Boston Celtics‘ President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge recently told 98.5 The Sports Hub that the “most likely scenario” is the team waits for the offseason to use their record-setting $28.5 million traded player exception.
Now is that nothing more than a smokescreen? Maybe, maybe not. Yet, you’d have to guess “Trader Danny” has at least sniffed around the prospect of making a splash move ahead of the March 25th trade deadline — a notion that recent reports would seemingly back.
One of those potential splash moves revolves around bringing versatile big man John Collins to Beantown — a player that has reportedly piqued the Celtics’ interest, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
“Another player of interest for the Celtics: Hawks big man John Collins, sources said,” Charania wrote. “Atlanta’s asking price has been steep for Collins, however: A high-level first-round draft pick and/or a talented young player.”
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John Collins to Celtics Could Alter the Landscape of the East?
While the cost of acquiring Collins may give Boston reason to pause, Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey believes it could be a move that ultimately changes the landscape of the Eastern Conference as we know it.
The analyst floated other potential targets such as Kings’ Harrison Barnes and “more far-fetched” candidates such as Magic’s Nikola Vucevic and Pistons’ Jerami Grant. However, it was the 23-year-old Hawks forward that Bailey mostly harped on.
“As a pure talent play, adding Collins makes a lot of sense,” wrote Bailey, who believes Collins could give Boston the “best of both worlds” when it comes to their current rotation of bigs. “He can stretch the floor and switch on defense like [Semi] Ojeleye without sacrificing size and rebounding. Over his last two seasons, the 6’9″ Collins has averaged 19.8 points and 9.0 rebounds, while shooting 38.8 percent from three, in just 31.9 minutes.”
Hawks ‘Motivated’ to Move Collins, but is He Too Costly for Celtics?
It helps that Atlanta has grown increasingly motivated to move Collins at the deadline, per The Athletic’s Sam Amick. With that said, there’s still one massive caveat of Boston pulling the trigger on a deal — money.
As of now, Collins’ $4.1 million salary for this season could be painted as a positive for the Cs. His salary would leave a massive exception on the table for Boston to target other trade options. In fact, he wouldn’t even have to eat into the Gordon Hayward TPE. Instead, he could fit into the $4.76 million TPE created from the Enes Kanter-Trail Blazers deal, as Bailey highlighted.
However, the long-term financial implications are far more concerning for Celtics. It’s been widely reported that Collins rejected an extension worth north of $90 million last offseason. If Boston goes and delves out numerous draft pics and/or young talent in order to acquire Collins, chances are they’ll likely feel pressed to oblige on a long-term deal as he’s set to be a restricted free agent this offseason. Considering the team has nearly $90 million guaranteed already tied up in their big-three (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown & Kemba Walker), committing to a monster deal for Collins may be asking a tad much.
Yet, that’s not to say the Wake Forest product is underserving of a large payday. One year removed from a 21.6-point, 10.1 rebound campaign, Collins has seen his production take a slight dip in 2020-21, but that’s not all too concerning. The 6-foot-9-inch, 235-pounder is currently averaging 17.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. He’s taken a step forward on the defensive end and has proven himself as a reliable perimeter presence, knocking down 38.7% of his 3-point attempts over his last 81 games.
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23-Year-Old Big to Celtics ‘Can Change Landscape of the East’: Analyst