NBA Rumors: Atlanta Hawks May Consider John Collins Swap For Pistons' Jerami Grant

The NBA trade rumor mill is working overtime in the past few days as the trade deadline is set for February 10 and the Atlanta Hawks are now in the hot seat.

In a report from Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, the Hawks are reportedly looking to move starting power forward John Collins in a one-to-one player swap with the Detroit Pistons for Jerami Grant because of their salaries matching.

“While there's been no direct indication on particular trade frameworks for Atlanta's pursuit of [Jerami] Grant, the Hawks have grown more active in searching for a new home for John Collins, sources said, and Collins' salary works in a direct swap for Grant,” he wrote.

The ESPN Trade Machine confirmed this potential scenario with the Pistons gaining eight more wins, while the Hawks are projected to lose seven of their own games.

At first glance, the trade makes little sense for the Hawks as they had already been on the cusp of success last season after pushing the Milwaukee Bucks to six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

However, moving Collins for Grant provides them a bit more flexibility in terms of defense thanks to Grant’s ability to guard more positions while remaining a presence in the paint.

Pairing budding star Cade Cunningham with Collins is a surprisingly smart move if ever they decide to push through as the Hawks star is only four years older than the former and Detroit will have a reliable pick-and-roll game to terrorize their opponents with.

In the long-term, it looks to be that Detroit will be the winners in this scenario as Collins is locked up for another four years after signing his five-year, $125 million deal with the Hawks in the offseason.

This gives them a proven winner to build around, while Cunningham further blossoms into his career as a combo guard.

As for the Hawks, Grant could serve as a complementary star to Trae Young as he can easily sky for the rebound on offense for easy second-chance opportunities while also locking up opposing stars on defense.

While the deal is certainly not set in stone, exchanging Collins’ penchant for offense in favor of Grant’s defensive capabilities, the Hawks will become a more competitive team when facing teams with physically stronger players like that of the Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Atlanta will first need to pull off a string of victories in order to return to playoff contention as they currently sit outside of the playoff picture, but it would not entirely be a bad idea for their front office to consider ahead of the trade deadline.