Dallas Mavericks: 5 options for pick No. 9 in 2017 NBA Draft
5. Zach Collins, C, Gonzaga
The best center in the NBA Draft might just be a player who accumulated zero starts his entire college career, averaging just 17.3 minutes per game for a mid-major team. While that statement seems unbelievable, it is a perfect representation of the situation Collins found himself in.
That mid-major team was Gonzaga, who lost just two games all season – including the national championship game to the North Carolina Tar Heels. Behind one of the country’s best centers in Przemek Karnowski, Collins was not asked to do much as the backup center.
When he did get onto the court, however, Collins displayed flashes of something truly special. Advanced metrics light up like a Christmas tree when evaluating Collins’ game, including such standout numbers as a 30.9 Player Efficiency Rating (average being 15) and .298 win shares per 40 minutes, which led the team.
On the Bulldogs, Collins took full advantage of the spacing provided, doing his work around the basket with a surprisingly diverse array of moves, finishing at a 70 percent rate around the rim. He excelled in transition and in the pick-and-roll, crashing to the rim to both catch passes (Collins might have the softest hands of any big in the draft) and cleaning up misses.
That exact role is exactly what he would step into for Dallas. Carlisle maximizes spacing at every opportunity, and his preferred poison is tearing apart a defense horizontally with shooters while doing the same vertically with rim-running big in the pick-and-roll. That’s Collins’ bread and butter. If he continues to develop the jumper he broke out at times for Gonzaga, then he could be a steal at No. 9.
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Defensively Collins offers the same package — flashes of everything you want in a center, from moving his feet on the perimeter to defending the rim. He gobbled up rebounds, rating out as one of the best in the country. He swatted nearly four shots per 40 minutes, again one of the top numbers in the draft.
The reason Collins is not a perfect fit is two-fold. First is the small sample size. He excelled on one of the nation’s best teams surrounded by talented players in a backup role. When he’s asked to carry a team from the pivot in the NBA, can he do it? And will his elite efficiency fall when asked to play more minutes?
Secondly, the Mavericks just traded for a young center to fill that role. Nerlens Noel may have been the top pick in the 2013 NBA Draft if he had not torn his ACL during his freshman season at Kentucky, and has the potential to be a game-changing defensive center. With his payday looming in July, should the Mavericks invest in another center?
If they do, Collins is their best choice. In a Dallas environment that maximizes offensive talent, he will have every chance to succeed.