Atlanta Hawks: 5 predictions for the 2018-19 NBA season

4. John Collins will improve on his scoring totals

For all intents and purposes, John Collins had an impressive rookie season. The former Wake Forest Demon Deacon led the team in both Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and win shares and received second-team All-Rookie honors.

Collins effectively filled the role that his predecessor Dwight Howard often bristled at: athletic, springy big man that rolls to the basket off of screens for easy shots. In year two, it appears as though Collins is ready to expand his game a bit.

While Collins shot 34 percent from long distance last year, that came on only 47 attempts, as he did most of his damage slashing to the tin following a pick-and-roll play.

However, Collins flashed a slightly more diversified skill set during Summer League (I know, I know, it’s just Summer League) that suggests that he could offer a little more on the offensive end than he did last year.

If Collins plays even slightly as well as he did during Summer League, he will easily eclipse his 105 points per game totals from 2017-18.