Portland Trail Blazers Reportedly Interested in John Collins

The Hawks power forward has drawn interest from yet another Western Conference team.

© Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Another day, and another new John Collins trade rumor. With the 2022 NBA Draft just 17 days away, you can expect a lot more gossip from around the league. Today, we learned that the Portland Trail Blazers are interested in the 24-year-old power forward.

In the article below, Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer had a subheader titled 'The Trail Blazers Want a Star.' After wading through the usual list of major free agents, a familiar name pops up. O'Connor wrote, "One other player frequently mentioned to be on Portland’s radar is Atlanta’s John Collins, who is a lob threat that could provide more defensive versatility than Jusuf Nurkic."

Here are seven thoughts on what’s happening around the NBA, including the deadlocked Finals, the drama out of Utah, and what I’ve heard this past week in San Francisco: https://t.co/66Q3EsbpIh

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) June 6, 2022

It's no secret that Atlanta's front office has shopped John Collins around for the better part of the last two years. Despite all of the trade rumors, nothing has ever come to fruition. 

However, what makes this scenario more plausible are all of Portland's tradable pieces. O'Conner pointed to the Trail Blazers' $20.8 million trade exception, Eric Bledsoe’s partially-guaranteed contract ($3.9 million), future picks, and combo guard Josh Hart as components of a theoretical trade package.

O'Connor continued, "There’s also a potential sign-and-trade with Nurkic, or more drastically, flipping Anfernee Simons, a 22-year-old coming off a career-best season and entering restricted free agency."

Alright, those were O'Connor's thoughts. Now let me add my own. The Trail Blazers have a lot to offer. Bledsoe and Hart are both solid perimeter defenders, which the Hawks desperately need. 

On the flipside, Simons is an exciting young prospect, but I doubt the Hawks want to be the team that pays him. Additionally, a sign-and-trade for Nurkic doesn't make much sense for the Hawks unless they totally reconfigured their roster.

As I wrote at the beginning of the article, we can expect a lot more trade rumors in the coming days and weeks. Stay locked into AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis.

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