The Portland Trail Blazers need to be patient with Zach Collins
By Ty Delbridge
Passing skill
One of Collins’ best skills is his passing ability. Being a seven-footer, he can see above the defense to find open teammates. He dishes out a nice, clean pass for a big man.
Being a good passer is going to help Collins fit into the NBA better and faster.
Portland can run the offense through him and let him either score or find the open guy. The Blazers like to have players cut to the basket and Collins has the skill to hit them in stride.
Here he finds a cutting Moe Harkless.
Here, Collins uses his height to find Harkless again at the hoop:
Because Collins is a good scorer in the post, he forces defenses decided to let him go one-on-one or double him. If they double him, he can use his passing skill to find the open teammates. The Blazers can put shooters around him and make teams pay for leaving anyone open.