NBA teams interested in signing restricted free agent John Collins are growing “increasingly pessimistic” that they’ll be able to pry away the big man from the Hawks, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link).
The Hawks and Collins couldn’t come to an agreement on an extension during the 2020 offseason, with Atlanta reportedly making a four-year offer in the neighborhood of $90MM, while Collins was believed to be seeking the max. That gap created a sense that the Hawks may be reluctant to match an aggressive offer sheet for Collins this summer, but based on Stein’s report, it sounds like rival suitors are skeptical about Atlanta letting the 23-year-old get away.
Here are a few more free agents from around the league:
- The Cavaliers had Alex Caruso and T.J. McConnell high on their list of free agent targets, but after agreeing to acquire Ricky Rubio from Minnesota, Cleveland may use its mid-level exception to address a position other than point guard, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
- Like Suns owner Robert Sarver, general manager James Jones isn’t sure whether or not Chris Paul will pick up his player option to remain in Phoenix. But if Paul opts out, Jones is optimistic the two sides can reach a new deal. “I think what we have is enticing. I think he likes being here. We like having him here,” Jones said, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “So I’m confident that we will be able to have a conversation hopefully in the coming days that will make everyone happy.”
- Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said the team wants to bring back Kawhi Leonard, Reggie Jackson, and Nicolas Batum in free agency and hopes that Serge Ibaka opts into the final year of his contract, as Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times relays. Frank also acknowledged that the club expects Leonard to miss time next season due to his ACL sugery. “That’s going to require a great deal of time and we want to support him in that,” Frank said.
Paul needs to know how much Suns will offer before he opts out
If Suns offer 3 year $80 million, Paul opts in
The entire point of Phoenix signing him to a multi-year so is so he opts out. Why would they reward him with a 3-year extension if he opted in?
The only way for Chris Paul to get a long term deal, with the Suns or any other team, is for him to opt out.
Not accurate. PHX didn’t want him to opt out. It’s CP3 that wants to get a contract beyond next year.
CP3 can be extended for another 2 years (after this next one) without opting out. That’s likely how PHX will want to accommodate him.
Apparently, and weirdly, they can’t talk about a new contract until he becomes a free agent — only an extension. link to brightsideofthesun.com
Lol what logical person really thought John was ever leaving ATL tho
Collins is a nice player, but he doesn’t deserve max money. Or… more to the point… no team with title hopes should offer him max money. He’s not a cornerstone piece.
You don’t think John is as good as Horace Grant?
Horace grant is about 50 years old. So…
Also, Horace was not a cornerstone piece. They won 3 more without him.
They won the 2nd 3 titles after they replaced Horace with a HOFer in Rodman. They won the 1st 3 with Horace & didn’t make it out the 2nd rd in the 2yrs in between. Horace was definitely a cornerstone of the initial 3peat tho. John is clearly better than Horace Grant. He’s as good or better than Siakam was 2yrs ago. He’s clearly good enough to win a title with. Hawks nearly won a title with him as our #2 scorer just a few weeks ago & he’s only just about to enter his prime
TBF they didn’t have Jordan during those 2 years…
Why all this about Horace? He is dissimilar to Collins. A goggles & effort guy, Collins a smart & imperfectly shaped guy.
And Hawks will not max him; they only offered $22.5m a year for him earlier, not $40m. Hawks just drafted a replacement.
My prediction on Paul contract
$44mm
$25mm
$25mm
Total $94mm
Trade John Collins, Cam Reddish and a future first for Brandon Ingram.
Hawks then have a all star duo in Young and Ingram and support from Heuter, Bogdanovic, Hunter, Gallo, Capela, Okungwu and so on.
Pelicans get a 4/5 in Collins, that allows Zion to play some minutes at the three, Collins could play some minutes at the 5 and add some spacing. Would be a great fit in opening up the court. Not to mention Reddish comes in as a 2/3 with really high upside still.