Yes, I'm serious.
This guy got charity starts after Portland was getting killed for passing on Bam. 12 career starts, 1 double digit scoring game of 11 points. Shot 33% from 3. No big deal, Portland was trying to salvage value for a bad pick, happens all the time.
Why should anyone celebrate a starting big getting 7 points a game, with half a block and half a steal and 1 free throw a game in 26 minutes?
Collins is a hasn't really done anything ever and I'm not expecting anything moreso now that he hasn't literally run for over 12 months and has a bum able ankle.
Eubanks has better career stats as a starter. Check their o-ratings and d-ratings. What's so impressive about Collins if he wasn't a lottery pick who went to Gonzaga?
And I'll join timvp, that Athletic article was pure puffery.
I remember when Charles Smith had ankle surgery in the off-season and the positive talk in the express news afterwards. "Oh, doctors went in and discovered scar tissue was restricting his mobility by 90%! But they cleaned it all up and just wait until you see him next season! Spurs fans will finally see the potential of who they traded for, the real Charles Smith!"
He never played again.
Times are different with medical advances, but I'm fine being very skeptical.