Portland Trail Blazers: Is a Zach Collins breakout looming?

Offense

If Collins can remain solid on defense and get better on the glass, then he can stay on the court to continue developing the most interesting part of his game: his versatile offense.

There’s so much you can do with a seven-footer who can pump-fake and drive, shoot the three, and even post up from time-to-time.

Don’t pay too much attention to Summer League

In Vegas, Collins averaged eight points and 1.2 assists on 40.8 percent shooting. The Blazers seemed to use him as a primary post-up option, and he certainly did not impress in this context. But have no fear, since he will likely never be used this way in the NBA.

Collins is more of complementary scoring option than one you can toss the ball to down low and say, “Get me a bucket.” He can score against smaller mismatches, but he’s not going to be a proficient option on the block until he develops some more moves with his back turned to the basket.

I would’ve liked to have seen him launching more balls from beyond the arc, as I think he could become a solid stretch four or five in the NBA, a la Kelly Olynyk.

Do pay attention to his poor midrange percentages

While he shot a solid rookie percentage of 31 percent from deep, his midrange percentages were less impressive.

He shot only 32.0 percent from 3-to-10 feet (16/50). For him to play the five effectively, this number will need to increase. He may not always find the easy drop pass for a dunk against better lineups, and so he will need to become more proficient when defenses lock in on him near the paint.

This past season, he showed some promise with a little floater. If he can develop this move, especially on his pump-fake drives, he could vastly improve his effectiveness within this range.

From 10-to-16 feet and 16-feet-to-the-three-point-line, he was also pretty ineffective. While this could be due to his few shot attempts from these areas – only 60 shots altogether – he will want to become a knockdown shooter in this range. This way, he can punish defenses whenever they dare him to shoot from a face-up position. Being someone who is a threat to let it fly from midrange whenever he’s given space will make him into a valuable floor-spacer for Dame and CJ.

To become a more confident midrange shooter will open up the floor and force opponents to open up passing lanes for him for cuts from his teammates.