John Collins returning to Atlanta Hawks on a new five-year deal

After testing the market and lengthy contract discussions, John Collins is staying with the Atlanta Hawks.

The restricted free agent agreed to five-year, $125 million contract with a player option for the fifth season, according to ESPN, which first reported the deal. Collins’ agents, Sean Kennedy and Jeff Schwartz, informed ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski of the deal.

Atlanta’s investment in Collins comes immediately after another longterm commitment to star guard Trae Young, who agreed to a five-year, $207 million contract this week.

Colins, 23, averaged 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds last season in helping the Hawks to the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals. He played a key role defensively in the postseason as well, in addition to making 39.9 percent of his 3-pointers during the season.

He was asked to do more offensively in 2019-20, averaging 21.6 points and 10.1 rebounds.

The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Collins quickly grew into a steal for the Hawks in the 2017 NBA Draft — they took him 19th overall after two seasons at Wake Forest. He made the 2017-18 NBA All-Rookie Team after averaging 10.5 points and 7.3 rebounds. He averaged 19.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in his second NBA season.