John Collins is entering his 10th season in the NBA and is now on the 4th team of his career. Last season with the Clippers, he averaged 14 points and 5 rebounds, shooting 55% from the field.
Collins was acquired in the offseason to replace Tobias Harris, who had been with the Pistons since 2024 and had played earlier in his career from 2015 to 2018. In his preseason action, he showed flashes of what is to come for the offense.
There is a lot that John Collins can do on the basketball floor that will help Cade Cunningham and the Pistons this season.
Lob threat and Shooter
Collins provides great shooting and is a tremendous athlete for lobs. Cade Cunningham averaged 10 assists per game last year, and with Collins, he could average close to the same or more. Athletically, he matches up with a lot of the top athletes in the league, and Cunningham has Collins, Duren, and Thompson to throw lobs to.
His shooting ability is another attribute that can help Cunningham out as well. Collins shot almost 41% from the 3-point range. Last season, as a team, the Pistons shot 35.6% from 3, so having Collins, who is a dual threat from both the paint and the outside, will help this offense thrive.
Does not need the ball to score
What makes Collins valuable is that he does not need to have the ball to be able to be productive in games. He played in all four preseason games and scored double digits in three of them.
He scored 10 points against the Suns, shooting 5-7 from the field; he scored 11 points vs. the Timberwolves, shooting 4-5 from the field, and lastly, against the Raptors, he scored 12 points, shooting 4-7 from the field.
This element of his game will be huge moving forward in terms of knowing his role and not trying to be the hero of this team. Tobias Harris would get a lot of his shots from the post and take a lot of time off the shot clock, whereas Collins is great at playing off others.
What he can do vs the Celtics
The Pistons open up the regular season vs. the Boston Celtics, and Collins can create mismatches for the Celtics.
His shooting and finishing ability at 6 ft 9 in can hurt this Celtics defense. There is not much rim protection either, so Collins can make an impact both on the perimeter and inside the restricted area.
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