Report: Hawks' John Collins Not Traded at Deadline After Rumors About Suns, More
John Collins has never suited up for an NBA team outside of the Atlanta Hawks, and that won't change this season.
Despite speculation, the Hawks decided not to trade the forward ahead of Thursday's deadline, according to Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes.
This comes after ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday that the Hawks had been in talks to send Collins to the Phoenix Suns as part of a three-team deal. However, the Suns wound up landing All-Star Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported last month the Nets, Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards had all shown interest in Collins. Haynes reported in late January that the New Orleans Pelicans had also reached out to the Hawks.
Collins' name popped up in trade rumors perhaps much sooner than expected considering it appeared he would be a building block for the foreseeable future after he and the Hawks agreed to a five-year, $125 million contract in August 2021.
Yet there were rumors about a trade the following January when Shams Charania of The Athletic reported he had "grown increasingly frustrated over his role in Atlanta."
For his part, the forward told Chris Kirschner of The Athletic last month it was "frustrating" to hear his name in trade rumors ahead of the deadline.
"I'm not sitting here complaining and saying I need more touches of the ball, or I need to score more points or need more shots. I've never complained about that," he said. "I just want to be put in the best position to succeed, and that's it."
Yet rumors persisted throughout the 2022-23 campaign, and Charania provided an update on where things stood in November:
Atlanta's rotation is fairly crowded with Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanović, De'Andre Hunter and Clint Capela, so Collins might have had an opportunity for more shots elsewhere.
Alas, no trade ever materialized.
The Wake Forest product has been a double-double threat for much of his career since the Hawks selected him with a first-round pick in 2017. His best individual season from a statistical perspective came in 2019-20 when he played 41 games and averaged 21.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting 58.3 percent from the field.
He averaged 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game to go with a 52.6 percent shooting clip from the field last season and has followed up with 13.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in 2022-23.
Collins can be a matchup nightmare for opposing frontcourts because he can extend his game beyond the arc (35.6 percent from deep in his career) and work in either pick-and-pops or pick-and-rolls. He was also a big part of Atlanta's postseason success in 2020-21 when it reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
That means there is still plenty to like from the Hawks' perspective since he is playoff-tested and in the middle of his prime at 25 years old.
While he hasn't played at his best level this season, there is still time for him to rediscover his form as Atlanta attempts to make a playoff charge in the stretch run.
