Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins is returning from his 25-game suspension Monday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Hawks went 4-21 in those 25 games that Collins was suspended, so the team will be more than ready to get him back.
Collins was suspended for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program after testing positive for Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide-2 (GHRP-2).
“I’m super excited,” Trae Young said. “John’s going to help a lot. It sucks not being able to have him early on this season.”
Head coach Lloyd Pierce joked that he wants Collins to play all 48 minutes as punishment, though Collins will not have a minutes restriction in his first game back.
“I just think what he presents for us is an active body, a guy that can protect at the rim,” Pierce said. “He’s engaged and he’s locked in, and he was for the first five games and he was at the end of last year.”
In the five games before his suspension, Collins averaged 17.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.
