NBA Draft 2017 Prospect Watch: John Collins
By Adam Coffman
Strengths
Diving into Collins’ gaudy scoring numbers (28.8 points per 40 minutes) reveals a couple main facets of his offensive game. For one, he used a ton of his possessions on post-ups, with 39.9 percent of his points coming in that department.
He displays quick footwork on the catch, not allowing the defense to collapse down on to him from the perimeter. Many of his moves involve him going over and through his defender rather than around them, which leads to him shooting 6.7 free throws per game.
Collins also uses his 37.5 inch max-vert and good hands to be an effective dive man in the pick-and-roll, scoring 1.61 points per possession in those instances. All told, he shot a whopping 69 percent at the rim.
He uses his foot speed and athleticism in transition, routinely beating his man down the court for run-out dunks and sealing off early post position. This should be attractive to the Bucks, who had the NBA’s fourth-best transition attack, according to Synergy.
Although he isn’t lengthy or particularly strong, Collins is also a gifted rebounder, taking in 14.8 boards per 40 minutes. He does his best work on the offensive glass, posting a 16.4 percent offensive rebound rate.
As we’ll get into, Collins’ defense leaves a lot to be desired, but his foot speed gives him the tools to one day be able to switch pick-and-rolls and execute a close-out-heavy defense scheme like the Bucks’.