Portland Trail Blazers: 5 rookie season goals for Zach Collins

1. Understand his role

One of the biggest mistakes new players can make is going into a situation either expecting too much or doing too much. When a player expects too much, his ego can sometimes get in the way, turning the locker room sour. When a player tries to do too much, he ends up stepping over everyone else’s toes, which can end up stalling a team’s upward progression.

Zach Collins was selected in the lottery, and he is undoubtedly a lottery-level talent. At 19 years old, Collins has boundless potential, and he’ll likely look to take advantage of every single opportunity to develop his game.

That being said, Collins needs to understand that he’s going to a team that arguably didn’t need a lottery pick. While Portland is certainly to be commended for finding a way to trade into the lottery to get their guy, a team that didn’t make any major changes after coming off their fourth-straight playoff appearance isn’t exactly in the best position to prioritize the development of a project.

Therefore, it’s unlikely the Blazers give him much playing time if he proves too raw a prospect. In this scenario, Collins just needs to remain patient with his development, understanding that he’s in a good situation and that he’s lucky to not have any pressure to contribute right now.

However, if Collins is able to quickly learn and display the qualities of an NBA-ready player both on and off the court, he will not just put himself in the best possible position to succeed in his rookie year, but he’ll put himself in the position to succeed for the rest of what many hope to be a long, prosperous basketball career.

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All Collins really needs to do is take a page out of Game of Zones and show that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to fit in and be a part of something special. Do that, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Collins in the conversation for Rookie of the Year.