The NBA is being surprisingly harsh on these suspensions for a league where everone knows that everyone is juicing. John Collins is out for 25 games for using some HGH or something, even though LeBron James literally drinks from water bottles labeled “Human Growth Hormone” during games. I don’t even want to guess who’s going to be next. The league has its choice of good-but-not-too-good-to-really-hurt-the-bottom-line players to target.
But with Collins forced to sit at home and reflect on the decisions that led him to this fate, there is suddenly a surplus of available minutes in Atlanta. Who wants to grab them? Will it be Alex Len? No, because he’s been garbo this whole season. Will it be Bruno Fernando? No, because I don’t have a clear idea of who that exactly is. Will it be Damian Jones? Maybe, but he still seems too raw on offense to be able to handle loads of extra playing time.
Which leaves with our favorite player on the Hawks, Jabari Parker! He’s a proven scorer with a 20 ppg per game season already under his belt, back in 2016-17. Scoring wise, he can replace a lot of what Collins brings to the table. This includes the dunks, although they are way less likely to be of the “alley oop” type and more likely to be the “cutting to the rim at the right moment while no one is paying attention” type. Rebounding is a different story, but just throw Trae Young down there in the paint and tell him to pretend to be Russell Westbrook. It’ll be fine.