The Detroit Pistons swapped out one of the most consistent offensive players in the league in Tobias Harris for a far more volatile option in John Collins.
The main reason for this was Collins’ ability to shoot the 3-ball, as he’s finished at 40 percent or higher the last two seasons.
The problem with Collins has never been his accuracy from 3-point range, but his tendency to disappear and stop shooting them, which we have seen over the last five games.
Collins went 7-of-9 from the floor last night for 16 points, so it was overall a good offensive night for him, but he only took one 3-pointer, and that’s not going to cut it for the Pistons.
John Collins needs consistent volume from 3-point range
Before the season, I wrote that Collins should aim to average around 4-5 attempts per game from long range this season, something he has never done in his career even though he’s always been a good shooter.
With two non-shooters in the starting five in Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson, the Pistons need spacers and Collins was supposed to be one of them, but someone needs to remind him, as he’s disappeared from behind the arc.
In the first three games of the season, Collins took 14 attempts from long range, which is right around where the Pistons need him to be. When he’s shooting from range, it draws a big away from the hoop, which helps open up other parts of his game, as well as the offense in general.
Over the last five games, Collins has only taken seven 3-pointers total, which comes out to just 1.4 per game, and it has shown in the results, as he averaged 15ppg over his first three games and just six per game in the last five.
When Collins isn’t shooting 3-pointers, his offensive game is limited, as he has wild handles at times and doesn’t have much of a back to the basket game like Tobias Harris.
Collins has always been an efficient scorer, but for him to be effective in the Pistons’ offense, it’s not just about scoring, but about how and how often he does it.
Last night was the ideal game for Collins to take more 3-pointers, as the Pistons were trying to draw the Philly bigs away from the hoop and make them defend in space.
And when you consider Collins only had one rebound in 26 minutes, there wasn’t much argument for him to spend the entire night in the paint. It was part of the reason the Pistons' offense was brutal in the first half last night.
The Pistons need consistent volume from Collins for him to be effective, so his 3-point attempts are a number to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
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