Since the trade deadline, the former No. 10 overall pick and injury casualty of the Portland Trail Blazers has been performing like someone who's going to get paid.
Whoa, those defensive stats are staggering! It’s been clear to me how good Zach has been on offense, but didn’t realize he was having a huge impact defensively as well.
Zach’s 3-point efficiency at higher volume since the trade deadline has been a revelation, but I’ve also been especially impressed by his post moves and passing. He feels like one of the few bigs in the league who I see leverage legitimate post moves and footwork to score in a variety of diverse ways around the rim. Reminds me just a smidge of Timmy (heresy I know!).
Had been thinking recently about how Collins is playing himself into being a part of the “young core” conversation (with Dev, KJ, & Jeremy).
What do you see as Collins’ ceiling? To me he seems to have top-10 center potential (don’t think he’s too far outside that range right now). His combination of 3-level scoring, passing, and defensive impact is hard to find.
I was surprised to see those numbers too honestly. They’d been better defensively since he joined the starting lineup (especially when Sochan plays) but didn’t expect that leap.
If folks want to call him part of the young core I don’t think it’d be a stretch. Given his pedigree it’s not like he’s at much of a talent disadvantage relative to those guys, he just had two years of basketball taken from him. Only 25 years old.
I think he has the skill set to be in that top half conversation among centers, but I’d mind the small sample size. If he keeps stringing these performances together, and if he cuts down on some of the turnovers and continues to limit the fouling -- AND IF HE STAYS HEALTHY -- he’s going to have an excellent career. A lot of “ifs” but I don’t consider any of them unattainable goals.
Mar 25, 2023·edited Mar 25, 2023Liked by Matthew Tynan
Great analysis and stats. Love to hear how well he’s doing and the possibility in contract renewal.
How are his numbers affected by the other big men playing in the same game? Pop changes the lineup so much, I can’t tell how often he plays with Sochan, for example. And, other than Mamu, the current rotation is pretty small outside Collins.
Well he plays with KBD or Sochan most frequently, which makes sense considering they’re really the two guys who most often start at the four. And both of those pairings have actually been excellent (relatively speaking) since the deadline.
Mamu, not so much. He’s kind of all over the place, which is par for the course for someone who joined the team this late in the season.
Well they’ll have money, but we’ll see how much they really want to spend on guys outside their own players and draft picks. Only so much roster space.
As for potential targets, who knows at this point? But I kinda doubt it’s any of those guys. None of them have shown the type of upside you’re looking for when you wanna take a swing while rebuilding.
I'm still catching up on all your great writing, love the Zach Collins love, I think he's been great in his starting role, and I hope we're able to sign him to a long term extension this offseason
Great article! This initial trepidation with his contract definitely looks ignorant in retrospect. I understand people had been nervous about his injury history, but what is cap space (like 5% of it for that matter) for if not for taking risks, especially when rebuilding?
The defensive stats you pointed out took me back a little. I think i’ve enjoyed the growth in his distributing and his increased quick decision making the most.
Is the 7.24% the percent it takes up to the salary floor, or just the total salary in general? I was sort of just shooting into the dark but knew it was low.
Is this the type of to-the-decimal analysis those waiting with bated breath can expect on the CK podcast?
Damn...wasn’t expecting the defensive numbers to be as good as they are. To my eye, it seems like he can struggle a bit when players get into his body cause he’s not particularly heavy, but I prob need to watch closer for the subtle things he does to be effective as a rim protector
Whoa, those defensive stats are staggering! It’s been clear to me how good Zach has been on offense, but didn’t realize he was having a huge impact defensively as well.
Zach’s 3-point efficiency at higher volume since the trade deadline has been a revelation, but I’ve also been especially impressed by his post moves and passing. He feels like one of the few bigs in the league who I see leverage legitimate post moves and footwork to score in a variety of diverse ways around the rim. Reminds me just a smidge of Timmy (heresy I know!).
Had been thinking recently about how Collins is playing himself into being a part of the “young core” conversation (with Dev, KJ, & Jeremy).
What do you see as Collins’ ceiling? To me he seems to have top-10 center potential (don’t think he’s too far outside that range right now). His combination of 3-level scoring, passing, and defensive impact is hard to find.
I was surprised to see those numbers too honestly. They’d been better defensively since he joined the starting lineup (especially when Sochan plays) but didn’t expect that leap.
If folks want to call him part of the young core I don’t think it’d be a stretch. Given his pedigree it’s not like he’s at much of a talent disadvantage relative to those guys, he just had two years of basketball taken from him. Only 25 years old.
I think he has the skill set to be in that top half conversation among centers, but I’d mind the small sample size. If he keeps stringing these performances together, and if he cuts down on some of the turnovers and continues to limit the fouling -- AND IF HE STAYS HEALTHY -- he’s going to have an excellent career. A lot of “ifs” but I don’t consider any of them unattainable goals.
Great analysis and stats. Love to hear how well he’s doing and the possibility in contract renewal.
How are his numbers affected by the other big men playing in the same game? Pop changes the lineup so much, I can’t tell how often he plays with Sochan, for example. And, other than Mamu, the current rotation is pretty small outside Collins.
Well he plays with KBD or Sochan most frequently, which makes sense considering they’re really the two guys who most often start at the four. And both of those pairings have actually been excellent (relatively speaking) since the deadline.
Mamu, not so much. He’s kind of all over the place, which is par for the course for someone who joined the team this late in the season.
Good stuff, love the nasty he brings... Spurs will have more money to burn... who are good “low risk, high reward” targets irrespective of our roster?
Jaxson Hayes, Kevin Knox, (Georgian) Goga, and who else?
Well they’ll have money, but we’ll see how much they really want to spend on guys outside their own players and draft picks. Only so much roster space.
As for potential targets, who knows at this point? But I kinda doubt it’s any of those guys. None of them have shown the type of upside you’re looking for when you wanna take a swing while rebuilding.
I'm still catching up on all your great writing, love the Zach Collins love, I think he's been great in his starting role, and I hope we're able to sign him to a long term extension this offseason
Great article! This initial trepidation with his contract definitely looks ignorant in retrospect. I understand people had been nervous about his injury history, but what is cap space (like 5% of it for that matter) for if not for taking risks, especially when rebuilding?
The defensive stats you pointed out took me back a little. I think i’ve enjoyed the growth in his distributing and his increased quick decision making the most.
You almost hit it on the head -- that contract makes up 5.94 percent of the league cap, 7.24 percent of the Spurs’ salary sheet.
r/theydidthemath
Is the 7.24% the percent it takes up to the salary floor, or just the total salary in general? I was sort of just shooting into the dark but knew it was low.
Is this the type of to-the-decimal analysis those waiting with bated breath can expect on the CK podcast?
Lol god I hope it’s better than that, but we’ll find out soon! And no, it’s 7.24 percent of their total cap allocations. So active cap + dead money.
Damn...wasn’t expecting the defensive numbers to be as good as they are. To my eye, it seems like he can struggle a bit when players get into his body cause he’s not particularly heavy, but I prob need to watch closer for the subtle things he does to be effective as a rim protector