John Collins was traded . finally.
It had been nearly two full years when the Atlanta Hawks were looking to find a new home for Collins, but they turned down offers they felt fell flat. What has changed? The new CBA and a growing fear of a luxury tax by the owners, so the Hawks agreed to what was essentially a payroll offload trade that would send Collins to Utah for Rudy Gay. Here’s how the trade shakes out:
Jazz receives: John Collins
Falcons receive: Rudy Gay, future second-round pick
(Note to cap pros: The Jazz suck the Collins into their cap space, so they don’t have to send equal paychecks again; the Gay Hawks suck in a trade exception, and in doing so create another $25 million trade exception for potential future deals.)
Let’s divide the winners and losers in this deal.
Winner: John Collins
John Collins can contribute—two seasons ago, he averaged 16.2 points and 7.8 rebounds a game, and he’s the kind of athletic attacker who can influence a game even off the ball or with blocks. Plus, he famously posed as Joel Embiid in a poster (and then wore a T-shirt with a picture of him dipping).
However, over the past four seasons, his usage rate has fallen lower and lower in Atlanta. He’s been disappearing on offense (and Hawks fans were saying, they didn’t earn those chances), and last season his usage rate dropped to a career low and he shot less than 30% from 3.
Now Collins gets a fresh start and a new opportunity – and he has to take advantage of it. Collins will split time in the four with just coined Taylor Hendricks and if Collins coasts Hendrix will gobble up more and more of this run. Collins needed a fresh start and he got it. Can he benefit from it?
Loser: Class of 2023 free agents
this is not The deepest and coolest class of free agents Ever, but everyone in this market has lost a little bit of leverage. The Utah Jazz were one of only seven teams with a lot of room to spend on free agents, and this trade takes up a lot of that space. Even for players without a sincere interest in going to Utah, it was the erratic free agents (and their agents) that could serve as leverage. Now Utah is off the board and another option has dried up.
If Jordan Clarkson and Tallinn Horton-Tacker both turn down their player options in the coming days, the Jazz will still have plenty of room, but it won’t be the same.
Winner: Utah Jazz
Utah just got a 25-year-old in a position they need who is, at the very least, a high-quality NBA rotation player, and if he rebounds more than that – they got him for next to nothing. It’s easy to imagine Danny Ainge and Justin Zanic texting each other and saying, “They’re going to give us Collins.” that!?! “
Rudy Gay was already on his way out the door in Utah, and they surrendered the future in the second round. That’s it. And not only do they get a player who can contribute today, but they also get someone who allows them to scout deals for players like Kelly Olynyk and Damian Jones, and bring back players or picks. Jazz is in the process of acquiring assets to rebuild and they have not only acquired high quality assets in return but have also opened up other potential moves. This is a win-win for the trade.
First: Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks didn’t lose on the trade, they executed their plan – ownership wanted less than the luxury tax, and the team was ready to move on from John Collins for a while. This didn’t cost them much, in fact they created a $25 million trade exception that they could use in a future move.
The Falcons didn’t improve either with the move. Collins may have faded in the rotation but he was still a good player who could have helped the Hawks into the rotation and may have bounced back under a new coach and system in Quinn Snyder. They ended up giving it away. It’s not a disaster, but it’s not good either.