The only vestige of the defunct Seattle Supersonics still employed by the same franchise, Collison currently boasts the third longest active tenure with a team behind Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker. Unfortunately, the accolades stop short of the actual court for the 36-year-old after appearing in just 20 games for the Thunder last season despite remaining completely healthy. He’ll spend another year at the back end of the bench mentoring his much-younger teammates.
Collison has been a mainstay for the Thunder organization since the franchise was in Seattle, but he’s nearing the end of his time as a productive player on the court. He saw his numbers decrease across the board during his 12th NBA season, averaging a career-low 11.9 minutes per game to go along with just 2.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists over 59 contests. The savvy veteran found himself buried on the depth chart and appeared to operate more as an extension of the coaching staff. Though he still remains an effective defensive presence, a further role reduction could be in store for Collison in 2016-17. He’ll likely open the season behind Ersan Ilyasova, Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, Joffrey Lauvergne and Domantas Sabonis on the team’s frontcourt depth chart.
Collison signed a two-year extension with the Thunder this February, keeping him under contract through the 2016-17 season. He's spent his entire 11-year career with the Thunder organization, going back to when they were still playing as the Seattle Sonics. At 35 years old, it's surprising the Thunder went out of their way to sign him to an extension. Collison is a bench role player who averaged 4.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.4 blocks in 17 minutes per game through 66 games last season under ex-coach Scott Brooks, who liked to use veterans until the wheels figuratively fell off. No one knows how new coach Billy Donovan is going to roll out his rotations, so Collison could be in line for a similar role to the one he had under Brooks, or Collison could find himself cheerleading most games. He's the type of player who does the little things right, playing mistake-free basketball. Near the end of last season, Collison suffered a sprained ankle and later underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to repair his right knee. While Collison may not carry a lot of fantasy value, he continues to be a steady mentor for his younger teammates.
Collison has offered much more real-life value than he has fantasy value throughout his 10-year NBA career, and that's not going to change this coming season. As the only member of Oklahoma City over the age of 30, Collison will provide veteran leadership and toughness off the bench for the Thunder. He figures to see a similar amount of playing time after averaging 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 17 minutes per contest as Serge Ibaka's backup last season, though he could cede some minutes here and there to rookie Mitch McGary and potentially Perry Jones as well.
The player with the longest tenure on the franchise (he spent four years in Seattle before the team moved southeast) is a player who shows off the distinct differences between fantasy and reality. Collison plays his role excellently for the Thunder, but he does not produce substantial numbers, and he hasn't for along time. His pick-setting and help defense are a big factor in the Thunder winning, but they won't help many fantasy teams.
Collison's dirty-work role is more valuable to the Thunder than to fantasy owners. He averaged 20.7 minutes last season in 63 games, but he could see slightly increased minutes if Kendrick Perkins' injuries bleed into the regular season. In that case, OKC could shift Serge Ibaka to center and insert Nick Collison at power forward. Even then, though, don't expect many fantasy worthy numbers beyond, perhaps, rebounds.
Collison provides the Thunder with steady play off the bench, but his role as a reserve limits his fantasy potential. The midseason acquisition of Kendrick Perkins last year solidified the bench role of the former part-time starter. He'll still get 20 or so minutes as the first man off the bench in the 4-5 rotation, doing the dirty work underneath the hoop. His production fell last season to 4.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, both career lows, as he played in only 71 games thanks to injuries. A shortened NBA season should help keep the role player fresher this season.
Except for the 2007-08 season, when he averaged close to 10 rebounds per game, Collison has never really been a rosterable fantasy option by most formats. After the Thunder's draft-day acquisition of Collison-clone Cole Aldrich (both are defense-oriented big men who went to Kansas), Collison's stock falls even further. Even before the team acquired Aldrich, things weren't looking so hot: Nenad Krstic and Serge Ibaka are probably both ahead of Collison on the depth chart.
Collison is a defensive-minded center. He attacks the glass on the offensive end, and plays with energy and determination. Collison’s per-game averages show little change whether he is starting or coming off the bench. He started 40 games at center for the Thunder but, with the team out of contention, head coach Scott Brooks installed Nenad Krstic as the team’s starting pivot for their final 29 games. Rookies Serge Ibaka and B.J. Mullens aren’t likely to find themselves in the rotation at the beginning of the year, but, recently acquired big man, Etan Thomas will be competing with Collison and Krstic for the starting job. Krstic didn’t separate himself when put into the starting role last year, and the Thunder will probably have a fluid division of minutes at the center position. If the Thunder struggle early in the season and fall out of the playoff race, they could easily opt to put Ibaka or Mullens in the starting lineup to give them more experience. Any such move would limit Collison’s production. While there are a number of questions about Collison’s role going into the 2009-2010 season, his ability to log minutes both at center and power forward should ensure that he’s in the mix.
Collison is coming off of the best season of his career, in which almost averaged a double-double (career bests 9.8 points and 9.4 boards) despite playing less than 29 mpg and only starting 35 times in 78 games. Collison is undersized as a center at only 6-9, but he is not scared to throw around his 255 pounds as he uses contact and hustle on defense and a surprisingly skilled offensive repertoire to good effect. Collison’s game isn’t dominant or diverse enough for him to become an impact center, but he shoots good percentages from both the field (50.2% FG) and the line (73.7% FT) which, when combined with the scoring and rebounds, makes him a viable rotation-caliber player.
Collison is coming off of the best season of his career, during which he took over as the starting center for the Sonics and averaged almost a double-double (11.0 points, 9.0 boards) in 54 starts in the middle. His game is not dominant or diverse enough to consider him an impact fantasy starter, but he shoots good percentages from both the field and the line. Combine that with the scoring and rebounds, and you’ve got a more-than viable rotation player.
Collison showed promise last year, but injuries have derailed his development. This year he'll back up Chris Wilcox at power foward. The Sonics are committed to developing Johan Petro and Robert Swift at center, which also will limit Collison's minutes.
After losing his rookie year to injury, Collison showed continued development as a sophomore, averaging 5.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17 minutes per game. Collison could see about 25-30 minutes per game this season, which would increase his fantasy value somewhat, but not enough to make a big difference as he'll still be relied upon to do the dirty work inside. However, new coach Bob Weiss has given Collison the green light to shoot from long distance more often than he did last season. Collison will battle Vladimir Radmanovic and Reggie Evans to start at power forward.
Collison spent last season sidelined with shoulder injuries. But watching and learning in what amounted to a red-shirt year should benefit the 6-foot-9 forward. The Sonics' frontcourt is weak, so Collison will have an opportunity for solid minutes. He'll have his share of growing pains, though, as a rookie.
Collison will miss his rookie season because of shoulder injuries. He was to compete for the starting power forward job. Keep an eye on him for next year's draft, though, as he'll fall off everyone's radar.
