John Collins opens up on constantly being involved in trade rumors: "You saw it with Kevin Durant, right? He’s begging for trade"

Atlanta Hawks power forward John Collins has been one of the most frequently mentioned players in trade rumors over the past few years.

With Atlanta struggling at 19-21 and 10th in the Eastern Conference, Collins’ name has come up once again with multiple teams reportedly interested. However, the 25-year-old isn’t fazed by the rumors anymore. In a recent interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Collins explained his new perspective in regards to coping with the endless rumors.

“I play basketball every day, you know what I mean?” Collins said.

“I come in and I play basketball, and whatever happens happens because I don’t control that side. I don’t have any control over any decisions that get made. Where I am and where I play, I don’t have any control over that."

Collins then went on to compare his situation to the Kevin Durant-Brooklyn Nets trade saga from this past offseason:

“I can say, ‘Hey, I want to do this and I wanna do that,’ and they can just do whatever they feel is fair. You saw it with Kevin Durant (last summer), right? He’s begging for trade, and Brooklyn is like, ‘Nah.’

“Not saying that I’m Kevin Durant, but it’s just the mentality of ‘Yeah, you can say whatever, you can make a public scene, you can do whatever, (but it won’t matter).’”

John Collins is in the middle of his worst statistical season since his rookie season. He is averaging just 13.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game on 49.8% shooting. However, just a few seasons ago, Collins was putting up 20 and 10 games on a nightly basis. So given his age and upside, he remains a desirable trade target for many teams.

For Sam Amick's full interview with John Collins, click here.

John Collins on whether the Hawks can still reach their ceiling

Atlanta Hawks power forward John Collins

Later on in his interview with Sam Amick, John Collins was also asked whether he thinks Atlanta can figure things out and reach their ceiling. Despite his name still being on the trade block, Collins remained very optimistic about his outlook for the Hawks.

“I feel like we can.," Collins said. "And you know, there’s no doubt in my mind that we don’t have enough to do.

“We’re not playing as we want to right now, and I don’t think any one of us came in here expecting that to happen at the beginning of the season. So I do still have complete and ultimate faith in his team and what we have and what we can do, but we just have to go out there and do it night to night on a consistent basis. It’s hard as hell, but easy to say. Hard to do."

When asked if the Hawks are missing any necessary components to be successful, Collins added that he thinks the team is fine as is:

“I don’t think there’s anything missing. I think it’s more assimilation into who we are, what we want to be as a team, where we can go. But missing? I don’t think we have anything missing. I think we are loaded. But it’s just mentally."

With the Feb. 9 NBA trade deadline fast approaching, the Hawks now have one month left to come together and start winning. If not, it appears that John Collins’ days in Atlanta could be numbered.