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We look back at John the Baptist.

This is a series that looks at the best Atlanta Hawks of the past 25 seasons dating back to the 2000-01 season. No. 10 Jalen Johnson can be found here.

It’s only fitting to follow one high-flying power forward with another.

Just as the Hawks hit a hard reset on the franchise in 2017, letting Paul Millsap walk in free agency and sending Dwight Howard to Charlotte by trade, the Hawks found a new big man to pin their hopes on.

With the 20th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, the Hawks selected Wake Forest power forward John Collins. And from his first moments he spent putting defenders in the rim at summer league that July, you had an inkling that the Hawks had unearthed a gem outside of the lottery draft slots.

Even starting his rookie season as a backup, his energy as a screener and rim roller was undeniable, and he injected a level of physicality the franchise needed in what ended up being the worst regular season — in terms of winning percentage (.293) — since 2004-05 (.159).

So once the Hawks paired Collins with one of the best lob throwers this league has ever seen the next offseason, his game reach new heights — literally. That 2018-19 season, he averaged 19.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and even added a standstill three ball to his arsenal (35% on 2.6 attempts per game).

His sophomore season was a step above yet — at least on the offensive end. He averaged 21.6 points and 10.1 rebounds while hitting over 40% of his threes. But his biggest black mark came off the court as he was suspended for 25 games after “testing positive for Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide-2 (GHRP-2).” This development forced him to miss the middle chunk of what would be a COVID pandemic-shortened season when Atlanta finished 20-47, and as a result Atlanta wasn’t invited to the Orlando bubble for postseason contention.

Despite Collins’ production in his first three years, two things were working against him: the team was mired in a rebuild full of losses and his defense was a weakness that suppressed his impact on winning. And so, the Hawks stepped on the gas pedal in 2020 to put winning pieces around Trae Young and John Collins, including adding rim protector Clint Capela by way of trade.

But this uncertainty around Collins’ role on a winning team stalled extension talks ahead of restricted free agency the next summer. October came and went, and so it was clear that he would play the season without an extension — something that was reportedly a source of friction for a player who was a 20-and-10 talent.

We know what happened in 2021, but in order to make that eventual team success happen, Collins had to sacrifice his offensive production and compete more on the defensive end. He did just that, often ceding scoring at the rim to Capela to spot up in the corner for threes. He was a split second faster on rotations defensively, constantly hustled, and flexed out to defend perimeter players more and more.

While a lot of defensive advanced metrics began to rate his defense as neutral or better, he simply wasn’t a versatile enough offensive player to adapt to the loss of touches in the halfcourt. But on the backs of team success that season, Collins and the Hawks agreed on a five-year, $125 million contract.

The next two years saw the Hawks revert to .500 play, and Collins’ declining production (partially due to a fractured finger on his shooting hand) on his huge salary number became a point of contention. He was finally crowded out financially in 2023 and salary dumped to the non-contending Jazz, where he has spent the past two seasons, before landing with the Los Angeles Clippers this offseason.

He’s a worthy top 10 Hawk of the past 25 years for his seasons of play — albeit a tenure that ended with a melancholy breakup. But it’s best to fondly remember the highlight reels of John the Baptist dunking all over Joel Embiid in the playoffs.