The Horizon
Collins is agile enough to be an NBA 4/5. The game has moved to a positionless format in recent times and his flexibility is what’s appealing to the Blazers. He might even start in game one of the regular season next to Jusuf Nurkic. Anyone who watched WCC games back in January will agree.
Not every team plays like Golden State; not everyone goes uber-small. The Blazers will play to their strengths and last season was an example. The Blazers’ best (post all-star break) lineup included Nurkic and Vonleh together. Neither really stretches it outside18 feet — Collins can, and he’s also versatile enough to chase guards around.
It may not be the current expectation that Collins will show up and win the starting spot next to Nurkic, but crazier things have happened. He would have to beat out guys like Vonleh, Al-Farouq Aminu, Ed Davis, Leonard and Caleb Swanigan. Aminu is likely to balance things out on the bench, Davis’ future is uncertain, Leonard is rubbish expendable with Swanigan likely to be a practice body for now.
So can Collins conceivably beat out Vonleh? Sure. He’s more advanced than Vonleh was at 19 and would compliment Nurkic well. 15-20 minutes off the bench as a backup 4/5 is still promising, too.
Next: Antonius Cleveland signs on for Summer League
One thing is for sure: expect more transactions. Davis (friendly contract), Leonard (cap clogger) and possibly Aminu (friendly contract) are tradeable pieces. The team is invested in Vonleh, and Swanigan was just drafted. The opportunity for the Blazers to hold a surplus in draft capital is rare, and the chance to obtain a blue-chip prospect to go with their star backcourt is even rarer.
Which brings me back to a previous point: why not? I guess Collins’ “funny encounter” with the Blazers panned out after all.