Portland Trail Blazers: 2017-18 player grades for Zach Collins

Strengths

Zach Collins is a very athletic big man, capable of running and jumping with the best of them. In fact, he’s so good at running the floor, Synergy Sports indicates that the transition game is the only place on offense where Collins was above-average. He averaged 1.7 points per possession in 15 transition possessions. That was the best in the NBA last season among players with at least 10 transition possessions.

Throughout the season, Collins also showed flashes of the versatile offensive player he could become. He was able to score inside as well as along the perimeter, backing down defenders on the block and facing up and hitting the mid-range jumper. Collins didn’t do it consistently, but he showed that he has the potential to be dangerous in almost any facet of the offense.

Defensively, he also showed some flashes. Collins was surprisingly adept at staying vertical when challenging shots for a rookie. His footwork and length also allowed him to defend all the way out to the perimeter.

He actually charted pretty well in closeouts and on-ball situations. Collins allowed 0.84 points per possession when defending isolations (60th percentile) and 1.0 points per possession when defending spot-ups.