THE Utah Jazz are caught between a rock and a tough place relating to sophomore jazzman John Collins. It has been a 12 months since Collins was acquired from the Atlanta The hawks Within the context of a wage minimize, and the place he’s at the moment, the Jazz may discover themselves caught footing the invoice for a participant who’s unlikely to be part of the longer term.
In accordance with ESPN’s Zach LoweThe Jazz would possibly want to surrender one in every of their future draft picks if a commerce had been to occur now.
“He [John Collins] “It has no business worth proper now,” Lowe mentioned. “You’d need to pay a draft decide, I believe, for somebody to take that contract.”
New Lowe Submit Podcast: On Yesterday’s Large NBA Media Breaking Information, Plus @stevejones20 on our largest NBA considerations for the upcoming season and causes to control 8 rebuilding or semi-rebuilding groups:
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— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) September 19, 2024
The Jazz aren’t any strangers to trades that require sacrificing a draft decide to unlock a contract. That is what occurred after they traded Derrick Favors to the Oklahoma Thunder within the metropolis in 2022. Nonetheless, the Jazz might have to attend one other 12 months earlier than a franchise is prepared to just accept Collins’ wage.
Collins is assured $53.16 million over the subsequent two years. That is some huge cash for a 27-year-old who simply turned 27. Collins is coming off a strong 12 months through which he averaged 15.1 factors and eight.5 rebounds per recreation, however that also would not justify the cap area he takes up for the rebuilding Jazz.
The large query going ahead is the place Collins matches in a 12 months the place the Jazz will give attention to participant improvement. Jazz head coach Will Hardy has been beneficiant in distributing minutes to veterans since arriving in Salt Lake Metropolis, however this 12 months it seems that may very well be completely different.
Utah ought to goal for a top-five decide, and the youth motion must take heart stage to extend its probabilities of successful the lottery. Which means betting on Kyle Filipowski and Taylor Hendricks over Collins from day one. At present, Utah’s roster contains Walker Kessler, Drew Eubanks, Lauri Markkanen, Hendricks, Filipowski and Collins. Is Collins the odd man out?
It stays to be seen what strategy the Jazz will take, however we all know Collins shall be in Salt Lake Metropolis for some time until Utah is prepared to surrender a few of its draft capital in a commerce. That is in all probability not an possibility for a rebuilding staff, and we may see Collins swimsuit up for the Jazz till the 2025-26 commerce deadline.
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