NBA Trade Rumors: Hawks don’t seem serious about moving John Collins

NBA Trade Rumors: If the recent reports are accurate, the Atlanta Hawks don’t seems serious about trading John Collins ahead of the trade deadline.

If the Atlanta Hawks continue to show signs of massive inconsistency, the odds of this team making a big move in the near future are only going to rise. Whether or not that ends up happening at the NBA Trade Deadline remains to be seen.

However, one move that the Hawks have been rumored to eyeing is a possible trade of John Collins. After more than half of a year of trade rumblings involving Collins, it would probably be in the best interest of the Hawks to either move on or shut these recent rumors down.

For whatever reason, it doesn’t seem as if Atlanta is interested in doing either option. According to a recent report, the Hawks are seeking a huge return for Collins ahead of the trade deadline. Per Heavy.com, the Hawks want something similar to the returns that the Utah Jazz got for Rudy Gobert (from the Minnesota Timberwolves) and Donovan Mitchell (from the Cleveland Cavaliers).

I’m not sure what the long-term plan is for the Atlanta Hawks

Assuming this report is accurate, I’m not really sure what the long-term plan is for the Hawks. Maybe they’ve had a change of mind and they believe that Collins is going to be a long-term plan for the team, but I find that hard to believe considering Collins has already found his name in the rumor mill twice in the last 12 months.

This is a dangerous game that the Hawks are allowing. Ideally, you don’t want a headlining piece of your team to be in a constant cycle of trade rumors. That’s not ideal for the locker room and it’s not a good optic from the outside looking in.

Nevertheless, this is the bed that the Hawks have made for themselves. Maybe this is all a bargaining ploy and the Hawks do end up moving Collins at the trade deadline for a fraction of this reported asking price

One thing is clear, though, I find it hard to believe that any team in the league is going to pay that premium asking price for Collins. It’s starting to feel as if the Hawks are unserious about the possibility of moving Collins ahead of the trade deadline.