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Boston Celtics: 2 trades for Cs to land John Collins

By Mark Nilon

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 01: John Collins #20 of the Atlanta Hawks reacts after scoring during the second half against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on January 01, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Hawks won 114-96. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 01: John Collins #20 of the Atlanta Hawks reacts after scoring during the second half against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on January 01, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Hawks won 114-96. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images) /

Boston Celtics trade idea No. 1) John Collins comes to town

First up, we have the least complex of the two trade proposals in which just John Collins comes to Boston.

Frankly, it should come as no surprise that we believe the Celtics should consider pursuing the talented big man. At just 23-years-old he fits the timeline both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are on while also giving them a legitimate big man to roll out in the rotation for the first time since Al Horford left.

By adding Collins into the mix, they’d be inserting a guy with a career 3-point shooting percentage of 38 percent to go along with 16.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, and over a block per game which, by all accounts, would allow the Celtics to effectively run their desired big-ball lineup.

Off to a strong start to the 2020-21 campaign, Collins is posting impressive averages of 18.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.1 blocks while shooting 55.9 percent from the field and a career-high 41 percent shooting from deep in 31.9 minutes per game.

In exchange, we see the Celtics dealing away both of their last two lottery selections in Romeo Langford and Aaron Nesmith to the Atlanta Hawks along with three future first-round picks.

Langford, despite an injury-plagued start to his NBA career, still has solid upside due to his youth and what he’s shown both during his collegiate career as well as in limited action with the Boston Celtics during his rookie campaign, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

As for Nesmith, Atlanta would be getting a guy tabbed by many as the best shooter in this past draft, and who came into the league fresh off of averaging 23 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and just under a block per game while shooting 51 percent from the field and a whopping 52 percent from deep during his final season in college.

While his jump to the next level has been a bit slow — averaging just 3.3 points on 31 percent shooting from deep — he has shown flashes of being a quality NBA player through his 10 games of action.

The biggest draw, of course, is the 3 first-round picks coming Atlanta’s way but, all in all, this is not a bad haul for a guy they felt was unworthy of a contract extension at the beginning of the season.

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