I think it’s the fact that all those things you just mentioned he may not be a net negative at, but none of them. He’s an outlier. In the modern NBA to be a genuinely a good defender, you have to have some aspect of physical attributes, or mental attributes that are pretty special given how many advantages the game gives. Offensive players. Collins has okay length, saw it athleticism, and okay size but he’s not particularly special at any of those. And I do think his basketball IQ on defense is below average. In particular, he gets bamboozled on how to defend, pick and rolls seemingly every time.

I think it’s one-on-one post defense is actually not bad at all and for a center he does a pretty good job when switched onto ball handlers and taking an isolation. But he gets picked apart in the pick and roll particularly when he has to go into drop coverage. He just doesn’t know when to show when to stay at home and doesn’t have elite length or athleticism like a Rudy gobert type to make up the difference