Projecting the 20 most promising young duos in the NBA
By Amaar Burton
9. Trae Young and John Collins (Atlanta Hawks)
If the Atlanta Hawks are really trying to become the East Coast Warriors, 20-year-old point guard Trae Young is obviously being cast as their version of Stephen Curry.
Young finished second in NBA Rookie of the Year voting last season, averaging 19.1 points and 8.1 assists per game for the lottery-bound Hawks. His blend of long-range shooting, ball-handling wizardry and slick passing makes him an easy comparison to Curry.
Collins doesn’t quite fit the mold of any of Golden State’s key players during their recent run of championships. He’s a more of an athletic scoring power forward than Draymond Green, but the 21-year-old Collins isn’t a passer or defender on-par with Green. Collins is close to Kevin Durant’s size at 6’10” and 235 pounds, but he’s not a buckets-from-literally-anywhere threat like KD.
What Collins can do is put up All-Star numbers for years to come. Last season he averaged 19.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game on 56.0 percent field-goal shooting.
Atlanta’s young core has depth — including this year’s No. 4 draft pick De’Andre Hunter, No. 10 pick Cam Reddish, Jabari Parker, DeAndre’ Bembry and Kevin Huerter — but Young and Collins are clearly at the forefront of the movement.