Hawks Continue To Pursue Trades Centered On John Collins

The Hawks failed to trade John Collins ahead of the NBA Draft, but that doesn’t mean they’ve given up on the idea.

Per Chris Kirchner of The Athletic, both Collins and the Hawks appear ready to move on.

“He’s done in Atlanta,” Kirchner quoted a source close to Collins as saying.

The Trail Blazers and Kings were among the teams said to have an interest prior to the draft, though the Blazers recently landed Jerami Grant in a deal with the Pistons. So if there was an interest in Collins, it has likely waned.

Meanwhile, a report on the day of the draft suggested the Hawks considered a Kings offer for Collins to be “underwhelming.” That offer reportedly did not include the No. 4 overall pick, which the Kings kept to select Iowa forward Keegan Murray.

The Hawks themselves took Duke guard/forward AJ Griffin with the No. 18 pick. While they like his promise, he’s not considered assurance to trade Collins. The Hawks, clearly, want an experienced player in return.

“The truth is no one across the league who I’ve spoken with believes Collins will be on the Hawks’ opening night roster,” Kirchner wrote. “The unfortunate reality is Collins and his family are left in limbo as they await what feels inevitable. It’s become an all-too-familiar situation for Collins several years running now. Every trade deadline and every offseason the question has always been: Is this when Collins gets traded?”

For the Hawks and Collins, it does appear to be a case of “when” and not “if.” And the when could come during this week’s free agency period, which often acts as the NBA’s version of the Wild West.

Collins, 24, is 6-foot-9 and averaged 16.2 points and 7.8 rebounds last season, shooting 53 percent from the field. He still has four years and $102 million remaining on the five-year deal he signed in 2021.

We’ll have more on Collins as the news is available. For more on the Hawks, check out our team page right here.