The Detroit Pistons brought in John Collins over the summer after letting Tobias Harris walk in free agency
When the Detroit Pistons take the court in the regular season for the first time against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 3 pm, the squad will have some new faces up and down the bench. In truth, both teams will since Paul George joined the Celtics this offseason, but the Pistons have had more turnover than their counterparts during the summer.
With Tobias Harris heading to the Western Conference in free agency, the Pistons will likely be replacing the vet with John Collins as their starting power forward, so he’s projected to be the new arrival with the most impact early on. But even outside of Collins, the Pistons welcomed Isaiah Joe, Taurean Prince, Gary Harris, Ebuka Okorie and Ugonna Onyenso to the squad over the summer, so there have been a lot of introductions taking place around the Henry Ford Health Detroit Pistons Performance Center as of late.
Regarding Detroit’s new four, Collins averaged 13.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last season while shooting over 40% on 3.2 triples per game, but those numbers are actually below his career averages. In Collins’ lone year in Los Angeles, the Clippers were committed to working different players into the lineup, so the 28-year old’s minutes took a hit as a byproduct, but that could mean some positive regression is in store with a larger role on the Pistons.
In fact, the new Detroit big man has already at least one supporter— and an important one at that— in Cade Cunningham after previous run-ins in the league.
“He's somebody that I've respected for a long time since I played against him,” Cunningham told ClutchPoints. “He's somebody that stands out whenever you play against him as far as how hard he works and the skill sets that he has.”
That evaluation makes sense considering the two last faced each other on Jan. 10 for a six-point Clippers victory where Collins posted 25 points, seven rebounds, four steals and four blocks while hitting five shots from beyond the arc. With that comprehensive effort, Collins left a lasting impression on the All-NBA point guard who will be feeding him passes for the upcoming season.
“He's gonna bring more than one thing,” Cunningham said of Collins. “He's gonna bring a lot of different things that we need: offense, defense, athleticism, toughness, mindset— all those things.”
While those qualities are hot commodities on any basketball team, over the past two seasons Tobias Harris served as Detroit’s stop-gap and excelled in the mid-range to close out possessions when the Pistons needed a quality shot. Collins’ profile, on the other hand, is that of a player that excels in other areas while still reliably delivering from the mid-range. He’s clearly a three-point threat who can help space the floor, but Collins also has an extensive highlight reel of lob finishes and powerful slam dunks, so the new Pistons forward could flourish in catch-and-shoot opportunities from outside or from fastbreak alley-oops from the aforementioned Cunningham in transition.
Suffice to say, Collins arrives in the Motor City with a lot of responsibility to quickly sort out as a projected starter, but the new Pistons power forward should offer a modern degree of skill with an old-fashioned element of grit that Detroit expects from their big men.
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