Atlanta Hawks: 3 goals for John Collins in 2018-19

2. Continue to improve as a rim protector

In terms of defending the rim, the Hawks were pretty “meh” last year, ranking 15th in the NBA with a 63.0 opponent field goal percentage from inside the restricted area.

For his part, Collins allowed opponents to shoot 61.5 percent from the same area. When you expand that to shots from less than six feet away from the basket, opponents’ shooting against Collins decreased to 56.7 percent, which is lower than the 61.9 percent the Hawks allowed a season ago.

Collins wasn’t the main source of the Hawks’ defensive woes — they were ranked 28th in opponent 3-point percentage — but he has to continue to develop as an above-average rim protector.

Granted, a lot of that responsibility will fall to Alex Len and Dewayne Dedmon, but Collins will likely get his fair share of minutes at center in small-ball lineups, so he will need to show that he can defend the paint as well or better than he did last year.