The Detroit Pistons signed forward John Collins to add a new element to their offense, but his defense will be just as important and has more question marks around it.
We’ve talked a lot about how Collins’ 3-point shooting will help open up the Pistons’ offense, especially in the half court, an area they struggled with in the playoffs last season.
Collins is a very good 3-point shooter and will hopefully get even more open attempts with Cade Cunningham drawing in the defenses.
As good as Tobias Harris was at getting his own shot, he was always on the block or in the paint, which didn’t help the spacing issues created by playing Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren at the same time.
Collins should help ease that congestion, but what about his defense? Will he be able to hold up in the same way as Tobias Harris?
John Collins has to be more engaged
Tobias Harris is not a great defender by any means, but he’s a high-IQ player who was always in the right spot, which helped make up for his lack of verticality.
Collins is certainly the more athletic of the two and adds an element of shot blocking that Harris doesn’t, but one of the biggest knocks against Collins has always been that he’s not a smart team defender, the exact thing that was a strength for Harris.
Collins has been accused of ball watching, missing rotations and losing his man on screens, which are things he’ll have to navigate much better.
He’ll be helped by the fact that he’ll be playing next to the best perimeter defender on planet Earth (or any other planet), as Ausar Thompson helps erase a lot of mistakes. But Collins has to be more locked in, and have quicker rotations and switches, as Harris was an active and vocal member of the defense.
Size differences and switches
Collins is also a tweener who can have a difficult time with bigger power forwards and centers that like to post up. Luckily, there aren’t many of those left in the NBA, but Collins will have to do a better job of not getting backed down, as this was another area in which Harris excelled. Tobias Harris may not have the hops, but he's strong and not easy to push around.
Collins will also have to play quicker wings at times, which was an area where Harris struggled, so this can be an upgrade for the Pistons when they go big and use Collins more as a wing.
Collins will also have to hold up in small-ball lineups where he is the de facto center, and there isn’t a rim protector behind him. He’s not only going to have to protect the rim, but also switch on the perimeter, as teams are going to challenge him.
Collins has attributes that could make him as effective, or even better, than Harris defensively, but he’ll have to focus more on that end and get rid of some of the bad defensive habits he’s built up over years on bad teams.
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