NY Knicks: 10 examples why NY should NOT trade up in 2021 NBA Draft

NY Knicks Examples #8 and 9 — John Collins and Jarrett Allen

In the 2017 draft, we get back on track as teams were very fortunate to pick in the late teens to early twenties.

At pick #19, the Atlanta Hawks (yes, again) drafted John Collins, another player coming off a fantastic playoff run.

This year, Collins averaged 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, shooting 56% from the field and 40% (!) from three. At the power forward position, Collins is able to stretch the floor with consistent three-point shooting, while dominating the paint with unbelievable athleticism.

Three picks later, just one spot behind where the Knicks will be drafting this year, the Brooklyn Nets selected Jarrett Allen, another dominant big man. Allen would end up in Cleveland in a three-team trade centered around James Harden, but the shot-blocking center is a rising star.

Allen averaged 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game in Cleveland, and is viewed as one the best young big men in the league. Allen doesn’t have the offensive arsenal that John Collins offers, but he more than makes up for it on the defensive end.

To me, the respective ceilings of Obi Toppin and Mitchell Robinson remind me a lot of where John Collins and Jarrett Allen are now. Toppin and Collins are ridiculously athletic, offensive-minded power forwards, while Robinson and Allen are two shot-blocking centers who can dominate the paint.

Drafting your starting frontcourt through in the late first round with both Collins and Allen would be a scary sight for opposing offenses, and one can hope the Knicks young duo of Toppin and Robinson can eventually develop into something similar.