NBA: Ranking every team’s best player in 2019-20

The face of the Atlanta Hawks may be 6’2″ tall, but their best player is a 6’10” power forward. John Collins is a double double machine (32 in 61 games played) for the Hawks inside, an explosive offensive force who is part of a generation of throwback inside bigs who bring new-age skill to the game as well.

The former Wake Forest Demon Deacon was a whisker from averaging 20 and 10, putting up 19.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. The Hawks went 5-16 in games Collins missed (including a 3-12 start to the season as he recovered from an ankle injury) and a much more respectable 24-37 in games where he played.

He and rookie point guard Trae Young developed vicious chemistry together and when the Hawks spaced the court around those two the results were tremendous. As Collins continues to develop his versatility on offense, the real question will be whether he can reach passable on defense. If so, and the Hawks can survive sliding him to center, the lineup possibilities become deadly.

Looking Ahead: The star of the future in Atlanta is point guard Trae Young and he showed his size would not hold him back with a scorching rookie season. It would not be a surprise to see Young on this list a year from now, although Collins should get better as well.

Don’t sleep on the possibility the Hawks make a huge swing in free agency either, adding an alpha star to go alongside Young and Collins.