On the same day the Hawks acquired Spurs’ All-Star Dejounte Murray in a massive deal, rumors about John Collins’ future in Atlanta continue to swirl.
According to Matt Moore of The Action Network, the Hawks appear more eager to move Collins than ever before, and the Chicago Bulls could be one team willing to talk business:
Boston, Chicago, and Sacramento are three other teams that have shown interest in Collins, sources have said over the last few weeks. It’s a little surprising Collins’ market isn’t stronger,” Moore wrote in his latest intel column.
First things first, I believe this Chicago Bulls front office does their due diligence. In other words, if a young starting-caliber player like Collins is on the market – particularly if he fills a position of need – I expect the Bulls to look into what a possible deal might look like. You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take, right?
So while I believe it’s true the Bulls have shown some degree of interest, I have to wonder how strong that interest is. Don’t get me wrong, Collins is a talented player who plays with a high motor on both ends of the floor. He provides an active and physical presence on the glass, and his 3-point shot continues to be a consistently reliable weapon. As far as starting power forwards go, teams can do a lot worse than Collins, especially at just 25 years old.
The problem for Collins is he just finished the first season of a five-year, $125 million deal. While it will be nice for any team that acquires him to have a level of control moving forward, that’s also a big investment to make in a player who has somewhat plateaued over the past couple of seasons.
For the Bulls to go out of their way to make that money work, they would have to be confident Collins can continue to improve and be the answer at the position moving forward. And I have a hard time envisioning them feeling that way with Patrick Williams on the roster (who they have reportedly been hesitant to trade even for Rudy Gobert) and plenty of money already tied up into Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
Again, as I said, teams can do a lot worse than a player like Collins in their starting lineup, and we can never rule anything out in today’s NBA. But I just have a hard time seeing a world where the Bulls put all their eggs in the Collins basket right now. If they did look for a big splash, I have to imagine it would still come in the direction of a Rudy Gobert or Deandre Ayton-level talent.