The difference between Collins as compared to Allen, Wagner and Boucher. Collins can score the ball consistently, every game.
We need more scoring. Despite having two stars, our offense is below average. As we learned last year, our team can accommodate three, or even four, primary scorers.
Hayward kept everyone involved on offense, hence he kept everyone happy. The way I see it, Collins only cares about his own shots.
Imo, we need more passing and shooting, not more scoring. An off-ball specialist can give us a consistent offensive boost and he wouldn't be taking shots away from the Jays. For instance, Seth Curry, Duncan Robinson, Gary Trent Jr, Joe Harris, Otto Porter (he'd be my ideal buyout candidate), prime JJ Redick/Kyle Korver etc. Not saying these guys are available. Just listing some names off the top of my head. Hopefully, Nesmith will make that list one day.
I'd also be happy with a point forward in the mold of Hayward or Joe Ingles, but this type of players are hard to find.
Boston needs talent. The team as currently constructed just doesn't have enough to ever really and truly compete for a title. Adding Collins (and then keeping him) goes a very long way to bridging the talent gap needed for Boston to be an actual and realistic contender.
Boston had more than enough talent in 2018/19, yet we were a dysfunctional team. Just because we need talent, it doesn't mean we should go after whomever talented player might become available. I mean, it's not like we are building from scratch. We already got (at least) 2 building blocks in Tatum and Brown. Imo, we gotta build the team around them. Basketball-wise, I believe Collins would be a bad fit next to the Jays. At the same time, he's about to become overpaid. I wouldn't want us to go after him.
First, I don't actually believe Boston had enough talent in 18/19. I've been pretty vocal about that. Second, even if Boston was a legit contender in 19, it had way more talent than the current team has. Walker from Irving is a talent downgrade. Horford and Hayward quite simply weren't replaced. And yes Tatum and Brown are better than they were, but no where near to make up the talent lost elsewhere. Third, as Roy pretty succinctly stated, Collins is a near perfect compliment to Tatum and Brown, and he actually allows them to play at their natural positions and gives Boston a lot more length in the starting lineup.
The trade I keep coming back to is this one
Boston - Barnes, Collins
Atlanta - Smart, Langford, Edwards, Whiteside, BOS 21 1st, BOS 23 1st (lotto)
Sacramento - Snell, Nesmith, Huerter
I think that is a good trade for all 3 teams and would achieve what I think their respective goals would be in making the trade. I have no idea if Sacramento would move on from Barnes, though I think they should, as he is a solid 4th option type player and they don't need to be paying a 4th option big money when their team clearly isn't good enough.
Boston would have 2 open roster spots and be about 15 million away from the apron and would have the TPE to use to potentially fill out the roster (along with the buy out market), but even if they didn't, I think a starting unit of Walker, Brown, Tatum, Barnes, and Collins would cause opposing teams a lot of problems. The bench needs a wing, but otherwise looks a lot better when you have Theis and Thompson on it instead of starting plus Williams, Williams, Pritchard, Ojeleye, and Teague (Green, Waters, and Fall can be in suits every night).