Tip-In Points Isolation: Darren Collison
When M&Ms introduced their peanut butter variety, everyone had similar reactions: this candy already exists and it’s called Reese’s Pieces. Still, people tried it and even kinda liked it, going so far as to agree that if Reese’s Pieces didn’t already exist they might even love these new M&Ms.
But Reese’s Pieces did exist. It used better peanut butter in just the right proportion and it’s outer shell was crumbly-er. Reese’s Pieces are perfect and it’s impossible to replace perfection.
Chris Paul is Reece’s Pieces.
I prefer Skittles, Adam. Well, then you’re a Deron Williams kind of guy who is completely missing the point of this post.
The point of this post is that Darren Collison is good. Extremely good. Better than anyone expected when the Hornets drafted him 21st in the ’09 draft (while no one drafted him in fantasy). He was widely considered among the five best rookies of last season and I can even make the argument that he belongs in the top three. But I’m not going to make that argument because you’re sensitive and hate it when I shout. Also, because that argument doesn’t matter. Not as long as Chris Paul is healthy.
Collison averaged 5.7 dimes in 27.3 minutes per game with NOLA. His most productive assist year at UCLA was in 2006-07 when he also averaged 5.7 dimes, but played almost six more minutes a game. You can look at this unexpected leap positively or negatively – or you can close your eyes and refuse to look at it altogether. Too late! You already looked at it! If you look at it positively, you see Collison as an anti-DeRozan; a player who had a mentor during his rookie year – perhaps the best mentor a young player can have. And guess what? Collison will have that mentor this year too. The negative side of this is that Chris Paul only mentors when he’s not playing and there’s no reason to think he won’t be playing 82 games next season. When Collison is the backup, he ain’t worth much.
He averaged 19/ 9 as a starter playing over 40 minutes a game. As Paul’s backup he only averaged 6/3 in 15 minutes a game, a line likely to be closer to where I fear DarCo will end up next season.
So let’s simplify this for the people that find Jim Rome entertaining: As long as Chris Paul remains healthy, Darren Collison is probably useless in any league shallower than 14 teams. If Chris Paul is attacked by a pack of gators and dragged into the Louisiana swamps, then Collison has the chops to be a top 10 PG.
His threes should go up (and turn into fours?) while his turnovers will go down (uh, hopefully). With him, it’s all about the minutes. Speculating on this guy in late rounds of your draft is a good strategy. You never know, I hear them tarred-up gators are angry. .460 / .845 / 0.8 3pt / 8.5 pts / 1.9 rbd/ 4.0 ast / 1.0 stl / 0.1 blk / 1.6 tov
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Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via Getty Images
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