Darren Collison

Collison has been one of the most consistent performers at the point guard slot over the past few years, though his lack of eye-popping statistics often causes him to fly under the radar. Across the past three seasons with the Kings, Collison has posted 14.2 points, 4.7 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals across 31.3 minutes per game. He also shot 47.9 percent from the field while hitting 1.2 threes per game at a 39.8 percent clip. He’ll be joining a new team, the Pacers, for the 2017-18 campaign. While the ball-dominant presence of DeMarcus Cousins often stole the show in Sacramento, Collison will be joining a roster fresh off of losing Paul George and Jeff Teague, creating an offensive vacuum that he’ll seemingly help fill. For that reason, Collison’s Fantasy stock is probably on the rise, as he projects to be the starting point guard for the team and will seemingly play a more significant offensive role than he did with the Kings. He’s certainly not a top-tier option, but is worth a look in the middle rounds of many Fantasy drafts.

Collison sacrificed his spot in the starting lineup last season in order to accommodate Rajon Rondo, but it didn't translate into a significant downgrade in his overall production. As the Kings' sixth man, Collison served as the top backup at point guard, and his career-best 40.1 percent mark from three-point range made him a playable option at shooting guard alongside Rondo as well. That versatility made it difficult for former coach George Karl to keep Collison off the court, and the 29-year-old would go on to finish the season with averages of 14.0 points (on 48.6% shooting, also a career high), 4.3 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.2 three-pointers and 1.0 steal in 30.0 minutes per game in 74 appearances (15 starts). With Rondo bolting for the Bulls in free agency this summer, Collison is now in line to slot back into the starting five, which should be accompanied by a slight increase in court time. However, it's quite possible that Collison will be sidelined to begin the season, as he was arrested in late May on two counts of domestic violence. He ultimately avoided jail time after accepting a plea deal in September, but Collison still could face a suspension from the NBA. It's unclear when or if the league will make a ruling on Collison's fate before the season begins, so he'll carry plenty of risk on draft day without fantasy owners having the benefit of knowing how many games the point guard might miss. The Kings would likely turn over point guard duties to Ty Lawson for however long Collison ends up being sidelined.

Entering the first year of a three-year, $16 million contract, Collison seemed to be repaying Sacramento's faith in him by producing the best season of his six-year career. He averaged 35 minutes, 16.1 points. 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals, all of which registered as career-highs. A lingering hip injury limited him to just 45 games and forced the Kings point guard to have offseason core muscle surgery. Collison's biggest strength is his field goal efficiency and ability to create turnovers on defense. His primary weakness is his inability to shoot off the dribble, particularly from distance. He also struggled with a low assist rate that has routinely placed him in the bottom half of the league among starting point guards. Although head coach George Karl has mentioned that he is open to playing two point guards on the floor at the same time, Collison is still likely to see a drop in minutes and production with Rajon Rondo now on the roster. Collison will be hard-pressed to reproduce his career-high averages for Sacramento this upcoming season.

With Isaiah Thomas moving on to Phoenix in the offseason, the Kings brought in Collison on a three-year, $16 million deal. The 26-year-old will return to a full-time starting role for the first time since the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, when he started 56 of 60 games for the Pacers. Collison is coming off of a solid season with the Clippers, where he averaged 11.4 points and 3.7 assists in 80 games. The UCLA product started 18 contests while Chris Paul was on the shelf with a shoulder injury, averaging 13.3 points, 6.5 assists, and nearly three rebounds per game over that span. He's been one of the top backup point guards in the league over the past two seasons, making his living as an efficient scorer and hard-nosed perimeter defender. Collison has registered at least a steal per game in four of five NBA seasons and is a career 46-percent shooter – a tremendous number for a smaller guard. He showed mild improvement as a three-point shooter last season, converting 38 percent of his attempts – a hair better than his 37 career percentage. For as solid as Collison was during the regular season, the playoffs saw him struggle to find his shooting stroke, as his field goal percentage plummeted below the 40-percent mark. In 13 postseason games, Collison went just 1-for-12 from three. Despite the sub-par performance, Collison will be firmly entrenched as the starter in Sacramento. Backup Ray McCallum is a better prospect than most believe, but the 23-year-old stands little chance of giving Collison a run for the starting spot.

Collison has played as a starter for most of his four-year career, but will take a back seat to Chris Paul in his hometown of Los Angeles. Despite an inevitable decrease in minutes, Collison should be one of the league's better backup point guards, especially on offense with career averages of over 12 points and five assists per game on 46 percent field-goal shooting. Those numbers will take a definite hit this season, but Collison can still provide commendable reserve numbers.

Collison set a new career high in minutes per game last season, while taking a step backward in just about every other category. Generally speaking, that's not the sort of trend we prefer to see. Collison ironically played his best ball of the season after he was shifted to a reserve role in favor of George Hill, but he's made it abundantly clear that he'd prefer to start. As it turns out, he'll get the opportunity, just not in Indianapolis. The Pacers decided to re-sign Hill and make him their starter, and Collison was traded to the Mavs for backup center Ian Mahinmi. Collison is still just 24 years old and has plenty of room for improvement, but it's hard not to be concerned about a player on his third team in a four-year career.

Based on an excellent stretch filling in for an injured Chris Paul in 2009-10, the Indiana Pacers acquired Collison last summer and thought they’d filled their long-vacant point guard position. Not so fast. Collision struggled in his first season as a full-time player, though he did finish the year with pretty decent averages (13.2 points, 5.1 assists, 45.7 percent shooting in just under 30 minutes per game). There’s plenty of room for growth – Collison is just 23 – but the acquisition of George Hill from the Spurs could cut into his overall numbers. Hill has the ability to run the point, and according to some reports was being groomed as Tony Parker’s eventual replacement. But at this point, it appears he’ll log most of his minutes at the two. That could actually help Collison’s development; sharing the backcourt with a veteran that can initiate the offense could take a lot of the pressure off.

Drafted by the Hornets, Collision figured to languish on the bench behind all-world point guard Chris Paul. But Paul spent much of the season hobbled by injuries, and Collison did an outstanding job filling the void. In 37 starts, Collison averaged 18.8 points, 9.1 assists, 3.5 boards and 1.4 steals while shooting .485 from the field and .429 from long range. He played so well, there were rumblings that the Hornets should deal their high-priced superstar and give Collison the point guard gig full-time; rumblings that grew louder in early summer when Paul started agitating for a trade. But new Hornets general manager took a different tack, eliminating the suggestion by dealing Collison to Indiana. The Pacers have been looking to upgrade at the point since… since Mark Jackson retired? Collison represents a major upgrade over anyone the Pacers had on hand, and could thrive running the floor with Danny Granger and rookie Paul George.