Hawks pick John Collins 19th overall

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The Hawks have gotten arguably the steal of the draft with the selection of John Collins out of Wake Forest. Collins was supposed to be a borderline lottery pick, but fell to the Hawks at 19.

This is the guy I have been wanting for months. With this selection, it is almost a given that Paul Millsap will be playing elsewhere next season. This kid is the future of the Hawks at the power forward position, and has All-Star potential.

Here is an excerpt from a piece we did on him:

“There is no sense in the Hawks trying to compete now. They simply do not have the ammunition. However, they do have a nice young trio in Dennis Schroder, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Taurean Prince. These players are talented enough to shift the focal point of the team to developing them. If the Hawks were to let Millsap walk and trade Dwight Howard, they would likely be a lottery team. This would give the Hawks a legitimate chance to draft a franchise changing player in the coming years and would give the team a clean slate financially.

However, this year the Hawks are just looking at the 19th pick. Not terrible, but not a great pick either. However, with it being such a deep draft class, this could be the chance for the Hawks to trade up and select a young big man to develop alongside their youthful trio.

John Collins could be that guy. He established himself as one of the best players in the best conference in the NCAA as a sophomore. He averaged 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in just 26.6 minutes and had the highest PER in all of college at 36.3. He was the Most Improved Player for the ACC.

In a league that is very top heavy in talent at the power forward position and a draft that does not feature many great big men, Collins could be a steal. He is projected to go at the end of the lottery. While he was not a 3-point shooter in college, his mid range game was on point and the Hawks could look to stretch him out and make him into a seriously dangerous weapon. His 73% free throw stroke suggests that this is not an unrealistic proposition. His post game was second to none and his footwork is incredible. He completed over 69% of his attempts around the hoop. He is also perhaps the best offensive rebounder in this year’s class.

Collins could be a fun weapon for Coach Bud. Though he does not have the defensive presence Millsap does, his offensive skill set is very similar to what Millsap brought when he originally came from Utah. Collins is fresh legs and has the potential to be great in his system.”

Schlenk gets an A so far in the draft after a not-so-sexy trade to dump Dwight Howard earlier in the week.

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