I used to live in Oregon until last summer and have always been fan of Zack Collins (and Drew Eubanks, my wife was a Beaver) and I know Blazers fans viewed him as a 3 and D player with his ceiling to be Al Horford.
Going into the next season, I thought Zack would be a huge upgrade over Drew especially on the defensive side of the court, but then ready this article by Jesus Gomes ( [Spurs’ Depth Chart Breakdown: The center rotation features familiar names, room for experimentation – Pounding The Rock](https://www.poundingtherock.com/2022/8/8/23294065/spurs-depth-chart-breakdown-the-center-rotation-features-familiar-names-room-for-experimentation) )
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> he’s \[Collins\] just not a good defender. Maybe a full offseason and training camp can improve his mobility, but he was never great on that end even before the injuries.
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According to this, [2021-22 NBA Player Projections | FiveThirtyEight](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-nba-player-projections/zach-collins/) he projects to be a defensive specialist and his draft profile reads {[Zach Collins – NBADraft.net](https://www.nbadraft.net/players/zach-collins/) }
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> A stellar defender with good lateral quickness, especially for his size
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I looked at his Defensive Rating and was tied for 2nd with Drew and Thad last season behind only DJ and one point ahead of Jakob. That is fishy, I think Jakob is a better defender than him and he was better than Drew and Thad. Also, according to that same stat Cacoc was our best player last season which is baloney.
So, what do you guys think? Does anyone have a good assessment of his defense?