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2021 NBA Free Agency will be stacked with a plethora of talented players, including Atlanta Hawks' young star John Collins, who will be a restricted free agent.
Collins declined a $90 million contract in December 2020 in the hopes of securing a max deal this summer. The Atlanta Hawks are in a tough situation and will have just $15 million in cap space to replace the fourth-year power forward if he leaves in free agency. If they do not make a strong offer to sign him on day one of free agency, John Collins could look to test the market.
The Hawks will have to try and match offers for him by other teams in that scenario to keep him, which could prove to be costly as Trae Young and Kevin Huerter's extensions are set to kick in for the 2021-22 NBA season. They could opt to let John Collins leave via a sign-and-trade deal instead, as that would at least allow them to acquire a player or two of equal value.
2021 NBA Free Agency: John Collins admits he wants to continue with Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks were highly close to making it to the NBA Finals this year. The team had a 14-20 record at the time of the All-Star break when they promoted assists coach Nate McMillan as interim head coach. He led them to a 40-31 record by the end of the season and helped them qualify as the fifth seed.
The Hawks achieved the feat despite plenty of adversities. Multiple starters like De'Andre Hunter and John Collins himself were injured for long stretches. However, they still qualified for their first playoffs campaign since 2017 and went on to defeat the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers in the first two rounds before being eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.
John Collins was an integral part of the team in the postseason run and seemed to have convinced himself that Atlanta is the place for him to be in the future as well. Speaking in free agency after the Conference Finals loss, Collins stated he wants to continue with the Atlanta Hawks for the foreseeable future. He said,
“It’s something that I feel like I’ve voiced my opinion about a lot saying, that I want to be here... We’re going to have to come to a decision very soon, but hopefully, the best one for me is the one that keeps me here.”
John Collins averaged 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game during the 2020-21 NBA season. His numbers dipped as compared to the previous season, but it is important to note that he accepted a reduced role to help the Atlanta Hawks function smoothly and achieve the best results.
He attempted lesser shots and was involved on both ends of the floor, delivering the goods whenever required. The Atlanta Hawks had acquired multiple shooters in the 2020 offseason in the form of Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari, due to which John Collins played a different role than what he was playing before.
