The Utah Jazz are in a bind when it comes to second-year Jazzman John Collins. It's been a year since Collins was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks in a pay-cut deal, and as things stand, the Jazz may have no choice but to continue paying for a player who is unlikely to have a productive future.
According to ESPN's Zach Lowe, if a trade were to happen now, the Jazz might have to give up one of their future draft picks.
“he [John Collins] “There's no trade value at this point,” Lowe said. “I think you'd have to pay draft picks to get somebody to take this contract.”
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The Jazz are used to making trades where they have to sacrifice draft picks to get out of a contract, which happened in 2022 with the Oklahoma City Thunder for Derrick Favors, but the Jazz may have to wait another year for a team willing to take on Collins' salary.
Collins is guaranteed $53.16 million over the next two years, a lot of money for a backup starter who just turned 27. Collins has averaged 15.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, which is respectable, but he hasn't quite justified the salary-cap space he occupies with the rebuilding Jazz.
The big question going forward is where Collins fits in this year as the Jazz place an emphasis on player development. Jazz head coach Will Hardy has been generous with giving playing time to veteran players since arriving in Salt Lake City, but this year may be different.
Utah should be looking to get a top-five selection and will need to focus on developing young players to improve their lottery odds. That means starting Kyle Filipowski and Taylor Hendricks instead of Collins from Day 1. Currently, Utah's frontcourt features Walker Kessler, Drew Eubanks, Lauri Markkanen, Hendricks, Filipowski and Collins. Does this leave Collins behind?
It remains to be seen what approach the Jazz will take, but we do know that Collins will likely call Salt Lake City home for the time being unless Utah is willing to part with some draft capital in a trade. That probably isn't an option for a team that's rebuilding, and we may see Collins in a Jazz uniform all the way through the trade deadline at the 2025-26 season.
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