#2 San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs failed to qualify for the playoffs for two consecutive seasons for the first time under legendary head coach Greg Popovich. They finished tenth last season and are heading towards a rebuild. The Spurs have a young core this time around, with DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay all set to enter free agency.
Popovich played DeRozan at 4 for most of the season. He is likely to part ways with the club, so John Collins could be his perfect replacement. Collins won't be running the team's offense like DeRozan but could at least build on his scoring and also improve the team defensively, an area they struggled in during the 2020-21 NBA season.
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The Spurs have a lot of tradeable assets and almost $49 million available in cap space to spend in free agency. Moreover, John Collins also fits their timeline, as he is just 23, and the Spurs players who are on guaranteed deals have an average age of 22.6.
#1 Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are looking to build a solid supporting cast around Luka Doncic this summer. They came close to defeating the LA Clipper,s thanks to Doncic's efforts, but lost in seven games after twice squandering leads (2-0. 3-2) in round one of the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
It was evident that a better team around Doncic could have made the difference. Kristaps Porzingis was expected to play a huge role for the team but has been disappointing so far, making his future at the Mavericks highly uncertain. In that regard, John Collins could be an excellent addition to their ranks. Regardless of whether Porzingis stays or not, Collins could be a key part of the Mavericks lineup.
He has shown tremendous potential to be a two-way player and could help the Mavericks by being a reliable scoring option behind Luka Doncic and also help the team at the defensive end, an area they desperately need to improve.
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