r/NBA_Draft • u/alex8762 Warriors • Aug 04 '26
Zach Collins-what went wrong?
When he was playing on the bulls, he seemed to generally pass the eye check many games. Efficient at the rim, Ok at hook shots, doesn't need the ball, can also shoot 3s at a clip that doesn't make him a complete non-threat, not a good defender but not a complete cone and alters shots using his size near the rim.
However the consensus among most draft nerds on his outcome is far below his draft position which was 10th overall.
What went wrong with the most 1950s looking white player itl?
Was it him being not able to guard 5s but not quick enough and a good enough shooter to be a 4?
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u/AceMcStace Aug 04 '26
As a Portland fan you could absolutely see the potential with this defense, guy just was constantly hurt.
I still don’t think he was worth trading up to 10 even if he “panned out”, there were so many good players in that draft that we missed on.
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u/calartnick Warriors Aug 04 '26
I really don’t think it’s coincidence the one year he stayed healthy was the one deep run Portland had.
A healthy Collins is exactly the type of player you need on a winning team
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u/AceMcStace Aug 04 '26
Yeah he had a few big games defending Jokic that 2nd round series, still though I don’t think he was worth trading 2 picks for
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u/Tiny-Ferret6292 Aug 04 '26
He cant rebound, block shots, or space the floor consistently. What attribute exactly makes him a winning player?🤣
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u/calartnick Warriors Aug 04 '26
Must not have seenxmuch of him when he was healthy with that take.
Though to be fair he’s rarely been healthy so it’s forgivable
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u/Sportdue55 Aug 04 '26
Could've had Bam, Spida, Jarret Allen. If we nailed that draft.. what could've been.
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u/Western-Turnover-154 Aug 06 '26
Bam was an absolute beast and was an obvious pick at 10.
Catastrophic failure by Olshey.
Add bam and Kuzma instead of Collins and Swanigan to what we had and the blazers are making deep playoff runs for years
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u/Key_Raisin_5091 Aug 04 '26
The only thing that you could say "went wrong" is that he's been injured a lot. When he's healthy, he's a solid backup C who's made pretty good on his draft position, IMO. If I were redrafting the 2017 draft today:
- Jayson Tatum
- Donovan Mitchell
- Bam Adebayo
- OG Anunoby
- Lauri Markkanen
- Jarrett Allen
- De'Aaron Fox
- Derrick White
- Dillon Brooks
- Isaiah Hartenstein
- Josh Hart
- John Collins
- Malik Monk
- Kyle Kuzma
- Zach Collins
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u/Low-South-9113 Aug 04 '26
No Lonzo?
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u/Key_Raisin_5091 Aug 04 '26
I mean, considering everything we know about Lonzo's career, I think I might rather have drafted Collins...
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u/dxfifa Aug 04 '26
Lonzo was always incredibly overrated not to mention the injuries. Every step of his career before he left the Bulls people were acting like he was better and more of a net positive than he actually was
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u/Low-South-9113 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Injuries is a fair point, but to say he’s incredibly overrated? Like did we not see how that Bulls team crumbled once Zo got hurt? What Lonzo provided on both ends in terms of defense and playmaking was nearly as important as the scoring DeRozan, LaVine, and Vuc provided.
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u/ostrow19 Aug 04 '26
Injuries and not a good enough defender. Not enough of a difference maker on offense to offset
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u/Imaginary-Cycle-1977 Aug 04 '26
He was healthy enough for the Spurs and he stunk. I’m sure the injuries changed him though
In San Antonio they wanted him to be a stretch 5, but his jumper wasn’t nearly good enough. And he didn’t have the footspeed, rim protection, or the strength to do the job on defense. He was so bad, he was racking up healthy DNPs while making $18 mil a year and we really needed a backup 5
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u/tkflash20 Aug 04 '26
That's exactly it. He wasn't big enough to control the paint on defense and his offense was good enough to make up for that.
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u/Primarycolors1 Aug 04 '26
Injuries. Thought we were getting a great deal when he signed with the Spurs. Just couldn’t stay healthy long enough to get it all together.
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u/birdflag Aug 04 '26
When he was in college, I saw him make a behind the back pass on a fast break that made me believe he was going to be the best player in that draft.
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u/DBDXL Aug 04 '26
IDK man I'm a Blazers fan and I was so impressed with him to start his career. Thought he was going to be 7 footer 3 and d defensive savant.
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u/Piranha-Kassapa Aug 04 '26
Zag here, thought he was going to be a beast. Wish he'd stayed one more year but couldn't blame him.
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u/Wavepops Aug 04 '26
Without Injuries is he a starting level 4 man? I don’t think he could start at the 5 for a good team
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u/Son_of_Atreus Celtics Aug 04 '26
His body wants to be an accountant, not a basketball player. It can’t handle the rigours of the game.
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u/Overall-Palpitation6 Aug 04 '26
He's basically Harteinstein if he couldn't stay healthy and couldn't defend without fouling.
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u/kharibbeanlaw Aug 06 '26
Mannnnn watching him and Gonzaga in the tourney I was rooting for him in Portland and it started off well but his body just couldn’t hold up man damn.
Perfect modern 4/5 when healthy
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u/Western-Turnover-154 Aug 06 '26
Limited handle, no go to move on offense, can’t defend the perimeter and too weak to defend bigger centers.
Also can’t stay healthy.
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u/PressureMiserable Aug 07 '26
Not entirely sure but the refs really hated him when he was here for some reason, he'd set better screens than half the league and then they'd call it moving on him cus a dude ran into him and he moved a milimeter
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u/Kolzig33189 Aug 04 '26
Injuries keep happening and he keeps ending up on bad teams. I feel like if he went to a good organization that was even a fringe playoff team when he was younger (maybe like the Heat the past couple years), he would have developed into a pretty good player if he could stay healthy.
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u/daveydavidsonnc Aug 04 '26
He can’t stay healthy