Winners and Losers From the Hawks-Jazz John Collins Trade

Atlanta, Georgia (PSF) - John Collins’ name has been in the rumor mill for as long as he’s been in the league, it seems. On Monday, the Utah Jazz made a trade for the forward.

For Collins, who turns 26 in September and averaged 18.5 points and 8.7 rebounds in just 30.6 minutes from ages 21-24, the price comes as a bit of a surprise. Several teams are bracing for the incoming and more restrictive collective bargaining agreement and may be looking to dump hefty salaries just like the Hawks did with Collins’ contract.

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Winner: Utah Jazz

The Jazz were reportedly after Collins since the beginning of the 2022-23 season. Utah getting its man now in what amounts to a salary dump is a win. Plus they are getting a young talent who they would like to see pair up with Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler at the five. If Utah gets the Collins of a couple of years ago, he’ll be a boost to the offense.

Loser: Atlanta Hawks

It’s not like the Hawks are giving up on a superstar, but the Hawks giving a productive big under the age of 26 doesn’t sound ideal at all. Atlanta has made the playoffs in three of his six seasons there, and the emergence of three-point shooting bigs should make hitting these benchmarks more common and demonstrates versatility for a big man which the Hawks may seek.

Winner: John Collins

This season, among Hawks, win with at least 500 total minutes, he was seventh in usage. With Young and Murray both returning for the 2023-24 season, there probably wasn’t much more responsibility for Collins. Players sometimes need a change of scenery and things had been stagnated for Collins in Atlanta. Utah’s a good place for a new player to get another shot at the NBA, just ask Markkanen.