Portland Trail Blazers: 5 reasons Zach Collins was a good pick

5. He’s versatile

By far, one of the best things about Zach Collins is his versatility.

Collins projects to be a stretch-4 when not being used as a backup center, which he was in Gonzaga behind Przemek Karnowski, and what he WILL be behind Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic.

Though not the most dominating scorer, Collins proved incredibly efficient, averaging 23.2 points per 40 minutes and 32.6 points per 100 possessions.

When he’s not behind the arc spacing the floor, Collins has the hands to catch entry passes and lobs, and he’s proven himself to have good fundamentals and footwork inside. Per SB Nation‘s Sactown Royalty, Collins posted up for 128 possessions, scoring 1.125 points per possession (96th percentile).

On the other end, Collins projects to be a great rim protector, supported by the fact he averaged 4.1 blocks per 40 minutes and 5.8 blocks per 100 possessions. He’s also pretty agile for his size, which could potentially help him develop into a respectable pick-and-roll defender.

Additionally, Collins cleans the glass extremely well, averaging 13.6 rebounds per 40 minutes and 19.2 rebounds per 100 possessions.

He is, however, infamously prone to picking up fouls. Whether that carries over into the NBA remains to be seen, but his defensive instincts more than make up for his lack of defensive discipline.