The Los Angeles Clippers have been stuck in a four-game skid going into Monday night's matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, and a lot of that has been because of the injuries they've had to deal with. 

Injuries have deprived the Clippers of their stars, Kawhi Leonard and Bradley Beal, and set back any momentum they might have generated in this early part of the season. 

Beal's status only grew more severe after Clippers head coach Ty Lue delivered bad news in his pregame press conference, where he confirmed that Beal would not only be out on Monday, but will miss an extended amount of time with a hip injury.

This puts Los Angeles in a very tough position. Beal was supposed to be the guy at shooting guard for the Clippers; that's why they signed him to a two-year, roughly $11 million deal and traded away Norman Powell to make space for the incoming star. Now that Beal is missing time, Ty Lue is turning to another NBA veteran in his first year as a Clipper to fill the void: John Collins.

Lue praised the size and athleticism that Collins can bring to the roster, saying, "We've been struggling to rebound the basketball, and career statistically, he's been a really, really good rebounder... I like his athleticism, I like his energy."

Lue continued, "We need to be bigger. We were small with Brad [Beal], KD [Kris Dunn], DJ [Derrick Jones Jr.], and James [Harden] so we'll see how it goes tonight."

Lue is spot on with the Clippers' rebounding struggles. Los Angeles ranks 26th in the NBA in rebounds per game with an average of 40.8 as a team, and Collins has been a steady rebounder throughout his nine seasons with a career average of eight boards per game.

Collins joined the Clippers this past offseason in the three-team trade that sent Powell to the Miami Heat and Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson to the Utah Jazz. 

Drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 2017, Collins has carved out a solid NBA career for himself as a scrappy and physical playmaker. He spent the first six seasons of his career with the Hawks before being traded to the Utah Jazz in 2023, and later, of course, the Clippers.

He has appeared in all nine games for the Clippers this season, coming off the bench each time and scoring 13.3 points in 24.7 minutes per game while shooting 56.6% from the field. 

Collins has already been active as a sixth man, but with Beal possibly missing a good chunk of time, he has a chance to set himself apart as a starter in the Los Angeles lineup for as long as it takes and then some.