The Atlanta Hawks (19-21) have been dangling John Collins as commerce bait for fairly a while now. Now it appears extra probably than ever that the Hawks lastly deal Collins to an NBA rival in an try to leap from ninth within the Eastern Conference to changing into a convention championship contender.

The solely factor is, Atlanta has a STEEP asking worth for Atlanta. An Eastern Conference govt reportedly informed Heavy Sports that the Hawks desire a “big-time return for Collins” and “something in that neighborhood” of what the Utah Jazz obtained once they traded their All-Star cornerstones, Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, over the summer season.

Gobert was traded to Minnesota for 4 first-round picks and one choose swap, whereas Mitchell was traded to Cleveland for 3 first-round picks and two choose swaps, Collin Sexton and All-Star candidate Lauri Markkanen.

Collins is averaging 13.3 factors, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per sport through the 2022-23 marketing campaign. His decrease numbers will be attributed to a brand new function and adjusting to De’Andre Hunter and Dejounte Murray taking on extra pictures and alternatives to attain. However, Collins was a significant contributor to Atlanta making an Eastern Conference Finals run in 2021 and definitely has All-Star expertise.

It’ll be attention-grabbing to see if any workforce will take a big step ahead and basically give the farm away for Collins by the point the commerce deadline ticks down. The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly the principle workforce displaying curiosity. The Nets reportedly expressed curiosity in buying Collins through the 2022 NBA Draft and want to add a star or “power-forward-like player” heading into the season’s stretch run.

Atlanta will look to construct a consecutive win streak once they tackle the Bucks on Wednesday.