Boston Celtics: 3 players to monitor during first half of schedule

Player the Boston Celtics should monitor No. 3) John Collins, Atlanta Hawks

Date(s) he plays the Cs: February 17th, February 19th, & February 24th

Easily the best player on this list, John Collins in a Boston Celtics uniform would be an unbelievable sight to see.

At just 23, and in his third year in the league, the Wake Forest product posted impressive averages of 21.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game on 58 percent shooting from the floor and 40 percent shooting from deep in 2019-20.

Now, while many would expect a talent like Collins to be a sure-fire building block for any young and developing team, recent rumors suggest that both the player and the Hawk’s front office are a bit far apart in terms of money and, with this, has caused teams around to league to keep one eye on the situation as it continues to play out.

"“The question I think a lot of people are monitoring around the league is where are those extension talks with John Collins and the Hawks? John is a guy that I know other teams around the league have monitored closely because they are enamored with his talent…”"

With the fact that the Atlanta Hawks just dropped substantial money on both Danilo Gallinari & Bogdan Bogdanovic during free agency and recently drafted Onyeka Okongwu (a player of the same position) with their sixth overall selection during the 2020 NBA Draft, Collins has seemingly never been as expendable as he is right now.

Fitting the bill both in stature (6-9, 235-pounds) and play style (athletic stretch big who thrives on the boards and can defend the rim) of what Brad Stevens typically looks for in the five, the third-year talent would very likely thrive running in Boston’s system.

Now, obviously, it would take a pretty penny to acquire someone of Collins’ ilk. That said, if I’m Danny Ainge, and he were to become available on the trade market I’d be willing to give up quite a lot in order to acquire his services.