Then again, RW3 is no stranger to injury. This team can do nothing and be perfectly fine. Boston technically stretches nine every-matchup players deep depending on how you feel about Pritchard or Sam Hauser. Malcolm Brogdon, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Grant Williams and Robert Williams III give them the league's most bankable eight-man rotation.

The Boston Celtics might actually be the only one. Prediction: Payton Pritchard and/or second-round picks will be used to acquire another big.įew, if any, teams can truly call themselves a finished product right now. This feels like a situation that'll be re-addressed, for the umpteenth time, over the offseason when Atlanta has a better idea of who it is and luxury-tax concerns reach fever pitch. If the Hawks want to make any noise this year, he remains too valuable just to dump for an OK package headlined by serviceable-yet-unspectacular players on cheaper contracts. I'd actually bet against one at this point. I still can't bring myself to predict a Collins trade. They don't possess an immediate impact wing or forward to throw Atlanta's way, but they have cap space to work with ($10.7 million) as well as two extra firsts in this year's draft (from Boston and Cleveland) to facilitate the Hawks' bookkeeping. The Pacers (should) loom after extending Myles Turner, the perfect front-line partner for Collins. They apparently don't even need a first-round pick to strike a deal just a quality player.īoth the Clippers and Jazz can rather effortlessly meet those demands. Sources told The Athletic's Sam Amick the Hawks have dropped their asking price for Collins as a result. The balance on his contract (three years, $78.5 million) must also factor into the calculus for a team that just extended De'Andre Hunter, already paid Trae Young and needs to start thinking about new deals for Bogdan Bogdanović (player option), Dejounte Murray (2024 free agent who won't sign an extension) and Onyeka Okongwu (extension-eligible this summer). The Atlanta Hawks are playing better since their four-game losing streak- top-seven offense over their last 15 tilts-but he remains an awkward, currently marginalized fit who needs to hit more of his threes. This isn't necessarily one of those times.Ĭollins has been on the trade block for, in my estimation, six to 12 eternities. Clippers, Utah Jazz or not at all.įorcecasting a non-move is almost always the safest bet. Prediction: John Collins gets dealt to the Indiana Pacers, L.A.

Shake The Lake Volume #1 by Zach Block