It’s Time to Jump on the Zach Collins Bandwagon

Zach Collins is drawing praise for his performance early on in the Portland Trail Blazers’ season, easing nerves about the loss of Ed Davis in free agency. Dan Favale of Bleacher Report lists him among the super subs whose bandwagon will likely grow:

Spending more time at the 5 hasn’t fazed him. His offense was never a question. His spattering of post moves is a nice surprise, but someone who trails plays behind the three-point line, pops off screens and backs out of the paint while defenses collapse on Damian Lillard and Evan Turner drives is a natural frontline asset.

The Blazers defense with Collins in the middle is more of a surprise. They’re allowing under 100 points per 105 possessions when he’s at center (78th percentile), according to Cleaning the Glass. Opponents are shooting 42.3 percent against him at the rim—a top-five mark among 101 players contesting at least three point-blank looks per game—and he’s notching one of the league’s 15 highest block rates.

Collins is averaging a 10.6 points and 1.5 blocks in 21 minutes per game (all career highs).

You can read more from Favale here.