Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[KillerLeft]

I just don't think of him as "featured", though his diverse skill set would be nice to have when one of the star guards is sitting.  Half of Collins' 3's come from the corner (to about 1/4 of THJ's) and he shoots a better percent from there than THJ.  So, I don't think he pinches Lively at all (and I know he rebounds and defends better than THJ).

You and I never agreed on the CWood as C or PF deal.  I think the correct answer is probably neither.  It didn't really work here trying Wood as the solo-big.  LAL played him (when they were playing him) almost exclusively with either AD or Hayes.  Now he's getting DNP's when Rui and Vandy are healthy.  Collins is very clearly a PF who has shooting and rolling skills.  You can play him next to Lively or Powell or Maxi and be just fine.  I would not be a fan of Collins at the 5 from a defensive standpoint...which may be a place where our visions of this diverge.

So much I disagree with here. I'll try to be brief. 

I brought up Wood, not for any positional argument, but just to illustrate what happens when you introduce a player who expects to be involved in the offense (hence "featured"). Make no mistake, featured is the correct word for the big involved in the action on this team, and I could have just as easily pointed to Porzingis. During that Clippers series that apparently traumatized him here, he was asked to stand in the corner while they used other bigs in the actions instead. It was the right call then, and as we know, his reaction to it wasn't great. 

Collins, like Porzingis, would not want to come here and stand in the corner. He'll want to set picks and roll, or worse - he'll want the ball at the elbow or some other ridiculous thing. Therefore, I think the emboldened sentence is incorrect and borderline irresponsible. He would be a good fit with Kleber, yes. Those other two? Nooooooo, sir. I do not agree. This isn't the first time I've said this, but the REASON Lively is dominating is because the offense is built around things he already knows how to do well. That all stops immediately once you ask him to play off of another big, which is 100% what a team trading for Collins would be doing. You don't trade for Collins unless you want an offensively minded big (which is why I brought up Wood, not to make comparisons of their talent levels). 

I also wouldn't love Collins at the 5. I agree he's a 4, but there's a TYPE of 5 who'd fit next to him, and Lively ain't it (yet). I think later in Lively's career, it might behoove him to start shooting more 3's and playing basically like Brooke Lopez, but he's not there yet, and frankly, I doubt he knows where to even start at being effect that way, even taking shooting out of the equation. We as fans can SEE from our elevated vantage point how the spacing works and how the plays develop. For the players, I imagine it's more like memorizing steps, identifying specific keys. They can't see the whole floor at once like we can. It's a BIG ASK for Lively to start playing completely differently, and I'm skeptical that it's worth trading for Collins if you're not going to let him be Collins, or that he'd even be interested. 

I honestly believe Williams is a better fit with Lively (this year's version, at least) than Collins. I truly believe that.