OKC Thunder: 2 potential trades to acquire John Collins

The primary emphasis for the OKC Thunder this season is to finish in the bottom three of the association to improve their shot at nabbing the top draft pick. As the franchise sets its sights on the future, Sam Presti has amassed 18 potential first-round picks over the next seven drafts.

While gaining top selections is the franchise priority, it’s impossible to predict if a top draft prospect will reach their potential ceiling. The next two draft classes are projected to be chock full of dazzling talents possessing generational impact so Intentions would never suggest giving up their picks from 2021 or 2022.

However, Presti should consider using some of the draft capital OKC has in hand to add young assets who are already proving their skills and who could bolster the foundational core.

Adding credence to this argument is witnessing how competitive this iteration of the Thunder is. Just this week OKC pushed the defending champions to consecutive overtime games. They followed this up with a two-point loss to last season’s Western Conference Finalists (Nuggets).

The OKC Thunder accomplished this while missing star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in two of the three games. OKC had the bare minimum of eight players available for both matches in LA and utilized nine in Denver.

To that end, with a third of the season complete, arguably, the greatest takeaway is the OKC Thunder are closer to returning to the upper echelon than assumed. With that reality in mind, as the trade deadline approaches the Thunder should keep an open mind on potential talents who become available and would fit the timeline of the rebuilding roster.

OKC Thunder should consider John Collins as a priority trade target

Earlier this season Intentions pondered how to spend the $27.9 million player exemption brokered in the OKC Thunder trade of Steven Adams to the Pelicans. A trio of potential candidates was considered with my favorite being John Collins.

John Collins banked on himself prior to season start electing to turn down a contract extension of over $90 million dollars. The Hawks big man feels he deserves a max contract and while he’ll enter the offseason as a restricted free agent there are far-reaching effects of his decision particularly now, as the Hawks aren’t recognizing the ascent they expected via their offseason moves.

Over and above Collins’ obvious skill set the relationship with the Hawks cornerstone Trae Young is impacting the circumstances in Atlanta. There were murmurs of the duo’s relationship being strained and that was bolstered in early January when Collins stated he was unhappy with the way Young was running the offense.

The Hawks big man raised these issues in a film session commenting on how early shot clock attempts and lack of ball movement were bogging down their offense. The inference clearly being Young could be making better choices as the main playmaker. The request was to incorporate everyone on the floor, to increase ball movement in order to get the best shot, and thereby force opponents into a more difficult defensive task.

In the game following the film session Young’s response to the criticism was that of a petulant child. Instead of trying to take Collins’ suggestions positively, he dug his heels in to prove his point. Young took an untypical nine field goal attempts, turned the ball over seven times, and collected three assists.

Atlanta began the season posting a 4-1 record but since then have played 21 games and suffered 14 losses. As of February 14th, they have dropped off the East ladder to 10th seed with a record of  11-15. The resulting effect is the Hawks are entertaining the possibility of trading John Collins and are open to offers.

Not coincidentally, in their most recent loss last night (Saturday, February 13) Young again took few shots (3 of 9) collected 15 points of which nine came at the stripe, and attempted no 3-pointers. They lost 113-125 to the Pacers and if I had to guess this was Young sending his front office and Collins a message to hurry up and get the deal done or expect more of the same.

Given this news, Intentions revisits why the Thunder should strike while the iron is hot and pursue acquiring the fourth-year big man. TI offers two hypothetical trades to consider in an endeavor to bring John Collins to OKC.