Not much has gone right for the Hawks this season.
They've lost seven in a row despite Trae Young averaging 30.1 points per game in December; a left shoulder injury to Kevin Huerter set them back big-time in November; and they can't seem to put together a complete game, with Saturday night's fourth-quarter collapse in Brooklyn dropping them to 6-24, which ties the Warriors for the worst record in the league as of Sunday.
The Hawks have yet to take that step forward they were hoping to this season.
Through it all, the absence of power forward John Collins has been glaring. The Hawks have desperately needed him on both ends of the floor, and, finally, he returns for Monday’s game in Cleveland.
“I’m super excited,” Young said. “John’s going to help a lot. It sucks not being able to have him early on this season.”
That being said, all the Hawks' problems won't magically vanish with the return of Collins, who was suspended for 25 games Nov. 5 without pay for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program after testing positive for Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide-2 (GHRP-2). He has been practicing with assistant coaches during his suspension to stay in shape and will slide back into the starting lineup.
Although Collins’ much-anticipated return is sure to give the floundering Hawks a boost, coach Lloyd Pierce doesn’t want to put too much pressure on the third-year player to right the ship by himself.
In the five games before his suspension, Collins averaged 17 points, 8.8 rebounds and two blocks in 32.2 minutes. The Hawks went 2-3 over that span, with two of those losses coming against the Heat, who entering Sunday are third in the Eastern Conference at 21-8.
They’ve gone 4-21 without him.
"I don't want to put John in a position where when he comes back, he solves our communication, our energy, our everything," Pierce said after the Hawks gave up 143 points in a Dec. 17 loss to the Knicks. "John's a great, energetic player, but he's still a young player. He communicates and he's bouncy and he gives us a pop, but it's a total (team) thing. It's everybody."
Pierce called out the Hawks’ lack of communication — particularly on defense — after the New York loss, something a vocal, outgoing player like Collins could help. Before his suspension, Collins had a good start to the year on defense, picking up where he left off to close out the 2018-19 season.
Pierce doesn’t want to put the fate of the Hawks’ defense on Collins’ shoulders, but they could use the help. The Hawks’ defensive rating has slipped to 113.9, good for No. 28 in the league. They have sorely miss Collins on the boards as they’ve fallen to fourth-worst in defensive rebounding (32.2).
“The rhythm of defending, him still learning how to be a solid defender, is still an ongoing thing,” Pierce said. “By no means is he going to come in and be (Utah Jazz center and standout rim protector) Rudy Gobert right off the start, but I am encouraged by what he showed us in the first five games.
“I just think what he presents for us is an active body, a guy that can protect at the rim. He’s engaged and he’s locked in, and he was for the first five games and he was at the end of last year.”
Collins is clearly one of the Hawks’ main contributors, averaging 19.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game last season. Before the loss to the Knicks, Pierce went as far as to call Young and Collins the “best two guys in the league in pick-and-roll.”
Also, even though Collins is only in his third year, on a team as young as the Hawks, his experience is valuable.
At this point, it's fruitless to think of the close games the Hawks may have won had Collins been present — the overtime loss to Portland and Indiana come to mind, as well as Thursday's narrow loss to the Jazz, or even Saturday's loss to the Nets after allowing a fourth-quarter comeback.
But his return certainly improves their chances moving forward.
“He’ll give us a lot,” Huerter said. “I think everyone in Atlanta, our team, we know the value that John brings us, finishing inside, rebounding, energy, offensive rebounding, just a lot of different things and second-chance points, knowing our offense, being, on our team, a veteran in his third year and a lot of different things that will help a lot when he comes back.”
