The trade deadline is bearing down upon us, and thus far, the Blazers’ sole move is trading an injured Duop Reath to the Atlanta Hawks for Vít Krejčí. While that was an excellent move around the fringes, Portland still has plenty of work left to do.
Currently on a six-game skid, the deficiencies of the Blazers are bubbling to the surface. Though still playing without Scoot Henderson and Deni Avdija, Portland’s lack of depth is a glaring weakness.
“Lack of depth” includes the sudden perceived defensive decline of Donovan Clingan, who has become a casualty of rigid defensive schemes that leave him as a defender in space. If coach Splitter is to take the next step in developing his coaching repertoire, he needs options that are at least capable of playing big minutes.
One such option is John Collins from the Los Angeles Clippers.
Blazers should target John Collins at the trade deadline
Seemingly forgotten about since being traded from the Hawks to the Jazz, Collins has quietly been putting together solid numbers even after his move to the Clippers.
Collins is capable of playing both power forward and center, and has developed a reliable three-ball since joining the Clippers. Collins shoots 42.9% from three this year and a scorching 47.6% from the corner.
Another one of Collins’ more underrated skills is his defensive rebounding, sometimes an afterthought but nonetheless important to a team’s defense. John Collins’ career DRB% (a stat which dictates how many of all available defensive rebounds a player grabs) is 21.3%. By contrast, the Blazers’ starting power forward—Toumani Camara—has a DRB% of 11.6%. His backup—Jerami Grant—grabs 9.8% of all defensive rebounds available.
Robert Williams III actually has a stellar DRB%, but there are caveats; one such is his inability to stay on the floor. While he’s been much more available this season, the Blazers are still holding him out of back-to-backs and he’s only playing 16 minutes per contest.
Perhaps Williams’ biggest detractor is his inability to play alongside Donovan Clingan, something that John Collins can do easily. To that end, he can also play alongside Williams for bursts, elevating the offense of either lineup, while Camara slides over to small forward to shore up the defense.
Collins is in the last year of his contract, a five-year, 125M deal inked with the Hawks. If he’s willing to accept a lower deal to stay with the Blazers beyond this season, Portland may have found itself a no-frills glue guy that can defibrillate a stagnant offense while providing some muscle down low.