Meet John Collins, the ATL jumping bean looking to send the Nuggets to 1-4

It’s a homecoming of sorts Friday night for Nuggets’ power forward Paul Millsap who played in Atlanta for the past four season before arriving in Denver this summer. But Millsap and the Nuggets aren’t interested in any fanfare when they take on the Hawks Friday night after dropping a winnable game Wednesday in Charlotte — their first of a four-game East Coast road trip.

The Nuggets are just four games into their 2017-18 campaign but victories have been hard to come by. Denver sits at 1-3 and is hoping a win in Atlanta and two more positive showings against the Nets and Knicks over the next few days will set them up for a six-game homestand where they can gradually climb their way up the Western Conference gauntlet.

Standing in their way are the Atlanta Hawks, who look a lot different to Millsap and the Nuggets than they did just a year ago. After trading Dwight Howard to the Hornets, Atlanta’s front office didn’t even offer their four-time All-Star a contract in free agency this summer. Tack on that slight as some extra motivation for Millsap who will be playing in Atlanta for the first time since he left and signed with the Nuggets in July.

Millsap is calling Friday’s matchup with the Hawks a “must-win,” via Altitude’s Christopher Dempsey, and Denver has a good chance to break the 100-point barrier for just the second time this season against an Atlanta team that’s rebuilding and a general manager in Travis Schlenk who’s not exactly looking to win that many games this year.

Fifth-year point guard Dennis Schroder has missed Atlanta’s last two games with a bum ankle but is in line to play versus Denver. However, the guy to watch for the Hawks is John Collins, a rookie big man who’s already showing signs of promise this season.

[columns]
[column size=”1/2″]Nuggets Starters

Jamal Murray
Gary Harris
Wilson Chandler
Paul Millsap
Nikola Jokic[/column]
[column size=”1/2″]Hawks Starters

Dennis Schroder
Kent Bazemore
Taurean Prince
Mike Muscala
Dewayne Dedmon[/column]
[/columns]

Collins is averaging 12 points and 7.2 rebounds this year, has come off the Hawks’ bench for two double-doubles through five games and has reached double-digit points in four contests so far. Atlanta is hoping the No. 19 overall pick is their power forward of the future and their long-term replacement for Millsap.

Collins’ best skill is rebounding. It’s the reason he got some lottery buzz around draft time and why he was ultimately selected in the teens. Through five games, 14 of Collins’ 31 rebounds have come on the offensive glass. The 20-year-old is already climbing up the league’s rebounding leaderboards and is among the NBA’s best offensive rebounders so far this season. Collins is grabbing roughly 13 percent of available offensive rebounds while he’s on the floor which ranks him firmly in the league’s top-20 out of players averaging more than 15 minutes per game.

He’s got instincts, the ability to read the ball off of the rim, and is a quick leaper.

The Nuggets have outrebounded their opponent in all four of their regular-season games this year and after a preseason where coach Michael Malone voiced his concerns about the team’s prowess on the boards, Denver has responded. Millsap, Jokic, and Denver’s bench bigs Kenneth Faried and Mason Plumlee will have to keep an eager Collins off the offensive glass.

On offense, Collins is fairly limited, but he’s effective around the rim. Last season at Wake Forrest, he averaged 1.61 points per 100 possessions as the roll man in pick-and-roll situations — the best mark throughout the NCAA and that’s how he’s been used exclusively so far this season in Atlanta.

Collins has attempted 42 field goals this year, 35 of which have come within eight feet of the basket and he’s just 3-6 on midrange jumpers. Collins is a dunker who can get up to catch lobs and will probably make most of his living throughout his career within five feet of the hoop.

“I feel like his offense is a little ahead of where we need him to be defensively,” Hawks’ coach Mike Budenholzer said via the AJC. “But he’s making progress on that end too so I think for a player in just his first 4-5 games, he’s making good progress.”

The Nuggets practiced Thursday in Atlanta at Millsap’s brand new Core 4 training facility — the same building where they held their mini camp in mid-August. As Denver pours over their individual scouting reports Thursday night and Friday afternoon prior to their matchup with the Hawks, Collins’ name is surely one that’s front and center.

Injury Report

Juan Hernangomez (mononucleosis) OUT

Ersan Ilyasova (knee) QUESTIONABLE

DeAndre’ Bembry (wrist) OUT

Miles Plumlee (quad) OUT