John Collins in the transfer rumors, it’s like traffic jams in Paris, we’re used to it. However, the franchises interested in his services may vary and, indeed, a somewhat surprised team wants to be involved in the discussions: the Indiana Pacers.
Going into the season, many of us saw the Pacers at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. But today Indiana is in the Top 8 with an unbalanced balance (16 wins – 16 defeats), sufficient to be potentially ambitious on the transfer market.
As stated by Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports recently and confirmed by insider Marc Stein yesterday, the Pacers are tracking the John Collins, perhaps more than ever from Atlanta. The strong 25-year-old fielder – under contract until at least 2025 – offers his lowest statistical contribution since his rookie season (12 points, 7.4 rebounds, 49% shooting, 8 games lost in December due to injury ankle) and feels like change is inevitable for the Hawks given the turmoil facing the ATL franchise today.
Nets, pacers, jazz, wizards all chasing John Collins https://t.co/YjsiTif4Eg
— RealGM (@RealGM) December 23, 2022
The idea for Indiana behind this potential Collins move? Strengthen your position 4 where the disappointing Jalen Smith recently lost his starting job to outsider Aaron Nesmith. It’s true that the Pacers’ frontcourt needs reinforcements if they’re ever going to look up, which they can afford to do today ahead of a Tyrese Haliburton All-Star season, just beautiful campaign by debutant Ben Mathurinor the solid season of pivot Myles Turner (whose future is uncertain also because he is in the last year of his contract) and Buddy Hield in defense.
It remains to be seen what pieces Atlanta might be interested in aside from Hali and Mathurin, who today we imagine as untouchables within the Indiana franchise. Shield? Turner? Another counterpart? Difficult to say today because, as Marc Stein points out, Collins’ potential transfer file is progressing slowly despite the many rumors about him. And then as mentioned above, the Pacers aren’t the only franchise in place. Utah, Brooklyn, Washington and Dallas are also ones to watch and could apply pressure as the February 9 trade deadline approaches.
However, seeing the Pacers in this kind of discussion symbolizes the unexpected trajectory taken by the Indiana franchise, which obviously wants to ride the wave.
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Sources: Marc Stein, Bleacher Report
