[high floorParticipant]

If you had to pick one of these two players to build your front court around, who would it be? I’m quite high on both players. Neither projects to be an elite defender, but they can both do a lot of things on offense to impact a win. 

Bagley and Collins are elite offensive rebounders. They’ve also shown me they can score efficiently in both the half court and transition, are super athletic, and have good hands.

I’d like to see a little bit more of a floor game from both, as neither is a great passer. But that’s easily tied to their inexperience & overall aggressive / score-first mentality on the court. No worries at all on that front yet.

Bagley is the bigger player, and perhaps his future is at the Center position. But the Dedmon signing signifies he’s likely the starting PF on opening night. Still, they’ll be analyzing data on Bagley at the 5….. and if the stats can be tied to better team performance they’ll likely start splitting his minutes between those two slots sooner rather than later.

Collins’ confidence in his jumpshot was evident last year. Although his percentage didn’t spike, his attempts from three increased over 4X….. a great sign for his future scoring prowess on the perimeter. 

So if you had to choose, who do you think will have the better career?

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 Bagley rookie year vs John Collins Rookie year…Bagley looked a LOT better..I’m a Hawks fan, Collins looked scared, lost and was lite in the azz..His 2nd year he killed it, balled out with Trae Young…I’m glad we have him..Both great players but I would go with Bagley, he showed more dog in him rookie season then Collins did. 

[sweaterflexParticipant]

http://bkref.com/tiny/9vb7m

Going by the stats comparing Bagley to Collins’ rookie year, John Collins was actually better than Bagley at just about everything on a per possession basis besides foul rate, as Bagley’s volume was inflated due to the Kings’ crazy fast tempo last year. Bagley was a year younger to his credit.

They are remarkably similar players, I think that Bagley may get more individual accolades in the long run due to counting stats and aggressiveness, but that Collins will do more to contribute to winning due to his superior passing, shot selection, and shooting. They are both really terrible defensive players, and I’m not sure either has a likely path to being better than average in that respect. Bagley has a good complementary player next to him in Dedmon, Collins…does not.

Their career trajectories will be really good case studies for the evolution of small ball, as they are archetypal power forwards who can’t defend the rim well enough to be centers and they can’t defend dynamic combo forwards of the prior generation. They can feasibly switch on to point guards, but they will likely need a very strong supporting cast to be a part of a high level defense.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

Orlando Woolridge has entered the chat. 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

They are actually remarkably similar players. Collins is a little more advanced on both offense and defense at this point but that’s to be expected as he is 3 years older. I’m expecting most people would probably go with bagley as he is younger and came into the league with more hype. He could theoretically have more upside but I’m not really sure as Collins was a bit of a late bloomer and has improved a great deal in the past few seasons. Gun to my head I’d probably go with bagley, but definitely not an easy decision and I don’t really think there’s a wrong answer. 

[CoachWyersParticipant]

 I would go with John Collins

[BlueRivers25Participant]

Marvin "Money Bags" Bagley III

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

 Its hard to say honestly as they are very similar players:

They Hawks might have more continuity meaning Collins could have a better career due to stabilty,knowing role and having a more willing passer of a P.G(meaining bigger stats).

However if the Kings have stability(which hasn’t really been their thing) and Bagley has a set in stone role I could see him having the better career… I would roll with him as My Center and Barnes as the PF and Dedmon off the bench(I see this happening with the loss of WCS)..As he has more tools to be slightly better than Collins.

Bettter right now though goes to Collins due to More experience,Less injuryies,Possible continuity in role and system over Bagley… 

[BlueRivers25Participant]

 The Kings best offensive lineup is with Money Bags at the 5, Barnes at the 4, with Held, Brodonvic, and Fox. 

Makes them a small team, and hurts them on defense and rebound tho. 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Collins had an excellent 2nd NBA season but I just feel that Bagley has more upside and will become a better player long term. Bagley was the much higher pick so this should be justified though.

Collins can be a very good 2nd or maybe at worse 3rd star on a team but Bagley has the upside to become possibly his team’s best player.

Both are in good situations with other good young players around them.

[r377Participant]

 Bagley is underrated.  While all the buzz was going to Doncic, Ayton and Trae Young, Bagley although selected second didn’t get much hype.

I wasn’t a huge fan of John Collins in college, can score but not much of a defender.  He is on a bad team so stats are inflated.

I would take Bagley, Collins PPG will drop or level out.  I can’t see him being a career 20ppg scorer

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Its the same thing he did at Wake Forest. Nothing flashy, didnt really look the part, too skinny but he always found a way to score and rebound and always was the most effecient player on the floor. Hes just really savvy and he knows what spots he has to be at on the floor, has great anticipation skills. I have no doubt he will be a constant 20 and 10 guy throughout his career, especially playing with Trae Young. That right there is a perfect match.

As far as Colling vs. Bagley I have no clue. I think its gonna end up like the current wing debate with George, Derozan and Butler which changes every year.

[Author]

Posts