Portland Trail Blazers: Zach Collins, a year of frustrations

Portland Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins had a frustrating 2019/20 season. Multiple injuries ruined both his regular season and playoffs.

Third-year Portland Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins seemed destined for a breakout year. He had all the ingredients to succeed before the season beginning.

Firstly he was named as the starting power forward after two seasons of experience from the bench. And with Jusuf Nurkic out injured, it left him and Hassan Whiteside as the only big men. He had a whole season to impress the Blazers before, hopefully signing on the dotted line with a rookie extension.

Sadly, he played just three games at the start of the season before dislocating his shoulder. This injury required surgery, and all of a sudden, he was out till what was then the playoffs. Collins, though frustrated, was determined to come back better than before, and he worked hard on his body and his mind to ensure he came back a better player, with more skills than he had before.

The season went on hiatus in February, then Collins progressed well, and because of the long COVID-19 layoff, he was able to return when the season did – in the NBA Bubble.

Collins looked great when he came back, but sadly he was only able to play eight games before a foot injury took him out of the ensuing playoffs. Collins just played 11 games in the season, massively disappointing for the 22-year-old.

11 games, 11 starts

7.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.5 blocks

47.1 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from three, 75.0 percent from the line

Effective field goal percentage 52.2, True shooting percentage 53.8

There were some takeaways from his eleven games though. His shooting does seem to have come along. Though the sample was small, he seemed happy to take threes, his stroke looked nice, and his efficiency of 36.8 percent is a promising mark. Collins’ passing was also a highlight; he made some nice reads, which looks like an area of his game that will continue to improve.

His finishing at the rim wasn’t that great from an efficiency standpoint, but he looked strong around the rim, and from what I can tell, this was more as he struggled to integrate himself back into NBA basketball.

Defensively, things were a bit of a worry. We can excuse his rustiness due to being out for such a long time, but his fouling was a big concern. He bit on too many pump fakes and seemed to struggle with his positioning as well. He did have some good moments defending in space or using his size at the rim, but this was mixed in with far too much aggression – sometimes with terrible timing as well.

It’s hard to be harsh on Collins though, as he only had eight games to impress after being out for nine months. He showed some promise in his 11 games, and although fans are probably worried about him being an injury risk now – one was a freak injury, the other a stress fracture.

The stress fracture will be easily fixed, and I’m confident that Collins can return healthy next season. The most challenging thing for him is that the Blazers will probably look to bring in a power forward replacement now as they look to contend. This is nothing against Collins; they just can’t waste any more of Damian Lillard‘s prime.

Collins will still be able to backup both positions in that event.

Overall, a disappointing and frustrating year for Collins. I hope to see him back in 2021 for a full season where he is part of the rotation and can at last show why Neil Olshey and the Blazers are so high on him.