Trade Grades: John Collins To Utah
The Atlanta Hawks finally traded John Collins. The return, however, probably threw a lot of people off guard. Could the Hawks have done better or was this the right deal for Atlanta moving forward? Let’s hand out some trade grades between the Hawks and Jazz!
Hawks Acquire Rudy Gay And A Future Second Round Pick
How many trade offers do you think the Hawks turned down over the years that was better than this? What’s the over/under on that 900? WTF was this return?
I understand wanting to move off John Collins but I refuse to believe that this is the best offer they got after all this time. Landry Fields is the semi new GM there and I’m not sure this guy has what it takes to run a real basketball team. Not saying Collins is a world beater but Atlanta basically gave him away for a trade exception that they may or may not use.
Collins, 25, had a career worst season in 2023. I think part of it was knowing he was on the block and stuck without a role. The former Wake Forest product averaged 21.6 points per game during the COVID shortened season. He’s not a shooter but he’s someone that can score down low and rebound. He makes his free throws at a reasonable rate too.
Gay will enter his age 37 season next year and has virtually no value. A future second rounder is next to nothing. Danny Ainge probably already has 40 of those in his back pocket. This trade is awful for Atlanta and I don’t see any rationale as to why the Hawks will pull the trigger on something like this.
Grade: F
Jazz Acquire John Collins
I’m not sure the trade is a total home run for Utah but it feels close. Part of the downside is that Collins a $25.34 million cap hit this year and is under contract through the 2024-25 with a player option for the season after. It’s not exactly a cheap deal in this new economy.
At the same token, they got Collins essentially for free. He’s still 25 and probably hasn’t hit his ceiling yet. A front court rotation of Walker Kessler, Lauri Markkanen, and Collins sounds intriguing. Also, Utah still has cap space even after this deal. Utah has another $12 million to throw at another role player. That number could increase if Jordan Clarkson opts out.
The Jazz also have a ton of picks. Who’s to say that Utah can’t rebuild Collins’ value and flip him for an even better asset by using a few of those Minnesota picks from the Gobert trade?
I love this deal for the Jazz. It feels like very little risk for a team that’s on the rise.
Grade: A-
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