Zach Collins and his return to the Blazers: ‘I’m definitely not rushing back’

Strangely enough, we feel practically the opposite on every point! I am no Zach hater BUT I think he is one of the most overvalued Blazers in recent memory. His defense can be good, but he has no vertical, and it sort of seems like guys have figured that out--he's not going to block your shot, just disrupt or foul you and make a pouty face. Offensively, he is incredibly underwhelming, making the occasional 3, but missing layups, putbacks, short jumpers. He has terrible hands, losing rebounds, fumbling balls.

I just marvel at the high regard people have for him... I mean his ceiling can't be much higher than we've seen, can it?

That being said, if we resign him, fine. He does seem to bring some stability to the team. But remove the 10th pick status from the equation and I'm unsure he's not all that different than like 50 guys in the league whose bodies aren't breaking down at the age of 23. And how crazy is that? Everyone is talking patience-the-guy-is-young stuff, but he is also falling to pieces at the age of 23.

Anyhow, one of my least favorite aspects of Blazer fandom in the Olshey-era is this gaslight-y touting of "talent."

 

Yeah, I was pretty heartbroken when we didn't trade up for Drummond, who I thought would have complimented LA because he brought us the toughness that LA lacked. I was excited about Lillard though... I think most on OLive back then had started really liking Lillard because he'd put those videos up on YouTube with his workouts. Both Meyers and Zach were picks that I didn't know a lot about and just had to trust the GM on... so I'm not judging them in hindsight. From day one I thought they had to prove that they were worth the pick but neither ever did. We would have been smart not to trade up for Zach and trade the Meyers pick for something that could have helped that team more immediately if trading up for Drummond wasn't an option.

 

or trading down in the draft:

11 Meyers Leonard
20 Evan Fournier
32 Tomáš Satoranský
34 Jae Crowder
35 Draymond Green
39 Khris Middleton

 

By the time Collins will return, he will have played, what, 11 games in two years? Also, big men with foot/lower leg injuries are always cause for concern.

This is not to the time to try and get a value contract done. Portland (err Olshey) tried that multiple times in the summer of 2016 and it's not the move. For the first time in a long time Portland doesn't have a bad contract on the books. However, we have a lot of upcoming free agents over the next two summers, especially in the frontcourt. Both Covington and Nurkic are UFA in 22, Jones can opt out in 21, and Melo and Kanter will be UFA in 21 as well.

I have my questions as to what position Collins can play in today's NBA. We all envisioned him as a 4, especially after that playoff run in 2019. But, from what little we did see of him last year, he looked too slow to play out on the perimeter and his 3-pt shot wasn't consistent enough. He's more suited for the 5, but I'm don't believe he's strong enough yet and we also have Nurkic and Kanter who seem to get the job done in tandem.

Keep Zach around for a year on the QO and see how he fits in. If it works, sign him long-term. If it doesn't, deal him at the deadline or let him walk. The only thing worse than losing a draft pick for nothing is compounding that mistake by signing them to an overpaid, long-term deal (Meyers).

 

I go by real numbers not advance on office I believe he was average almost 7 boards a game and the turnovers was few he couldn't handle but the majority of them when he brought the ball down below his waisted off a rebound or a move. Covington and Jones is average below 6 a game this year on rebounds. Now when you only average 6 or 7 shots a game and some come off offense rebounds then he really not getting the opportunity to score. Plus look at Jones and Covington opportunity on offense this year while Dame and CJ playing there getting about the same attempts of shots. Well how much do I give him I believe the going price is between 8-10 million a year. Kiebler from Dallas gets about 8.6 million and Harrell from the Lakers gets about 9.5 million a year.

 

You know Nurk fouls out more games then Zach when there healthy and you do know Nurk miss just many bunnies as Zach and do you Zach has 6 blocks twice in his career and jumping and putting both hands up making people miss around the rim is just as good as a block. Now he real stats not advance stats he only average 3.5 fouls a game. I also seen guard guards on switches and been pretty successful holding his own out there. Plus how much vertical need when your 7 foot tall with your arms straight up in the air. Yes big fan of him and needs clean some things up to reach another level but there correctable.

 

I don't think comparing Nurk and Zach is fair...to Zach. Nurk is a phenomenal player, a bone fide starter with a ceiling at near All-Star level, whose impact on the game is clear, while Zach...? I've definitely seen Zach have an impact on games, but dude is likely not a starter on the majority of NBA rosters, when healthy. I mean, Nurk is a force and Zach is more of a complementary player. I don't know, they are just very different players; I just think it is a bad comp.

So, Zach is special because he's twice blocked 6 shots in a game and is tall and can jump with his arms straight up? He's also prone to fouling 3 point shooters and throwing ah-shucks tantrums.

It's coming off like I don't like Zach. I do. I just think there are a dozen of him in the league and it's a damn shame we got a broken one.

 

Kleber (a sharp shooter) and Harrell are worlds better than Zach and I saw that you were comparing Zach to Nurk. So I should probably stop talking to you about Zach because you see him far far different than I do. Also per36 numbers aren't advanced metrics, they're what you have to use with role playing bench players like Collins.

 

All got say we are missing the defense from a guy like Zach have you seen our defense lately matter in fact all season.

 

I don’t think we have anything to worry about. If we know Zach is garbage I’m sure professional scouts do too. If anything I think we can get him back for cheap. Which is fine. I’ll take it. I’ve always said Collins isn’t completely worthless like Meyers. He’s a decent player who has nice defense. I think he can be a journeyman type of player like Ed Davis does from team to team.

 

WELL?

Any news?

 

Neil sure can pick em.

 

Playoffs? You’re talking about playoffs?

 

He didn't say which year....

 

Who cares

 

Me, but then I’m a Blazers fan.