The Atlanta Hawks have agreed to trade former 2017 first-round pick John Collins to the Utah Jazz for veteran forward Rudy Gay and a future second-round pick, first reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
ESPN Sources: The Hawks are finalizing a trade to send F/C John Collins to the Jazz for Rudy Gay and a future second-round pick. Atlanta’s largely unloading Collins’ three years, $78M for some roster building flexibility and alignment with looming changes to salary cap. pic.twitter.com/CpAfTNXKMq
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2023
Rumored to be on the trade block various times over the last few seasons, a split between Collins and the Hawks seemed like the most likely scenario for the two sides. Atlanta's forward had been frustrated with the organization multiple times through the years and after coming close to trading him a few times during the 2022-23 season, the Hawks finally agreed to move on from the remaining $78 million on his contract for any value they could get.
With Lauri Markkanen having a breakout All-Star season and Utah not looking to go through a rebuild, adding talent this offseason suddenly turned into a priority. Collins had been a target of theirs dating back to this past season's trade deadline and now, the Jazz were able to land him at a significant discount in value from the Hawks. Alongside All-Rookie center Walker Kessler and Markkanen, Collins now figures to play a key secondary role for the Jazz.
From Atlanta's side of things, this deal was made to simply save money. Still having nearly $78.5 million on his contract, assuming he opts into his player option for the 2025-26 season, Collins had become more of a liability from a financial perspective for the Hawks, especially since his role had been diminishing.
His 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game were some of the lowest marks of Collins' career this past season and aside from cutting costs, Atlanta was also looking for ways to get some of their younger talents involved more. League sources have told ClutchPoints that the Hawks are very high on recent first-round pick Jalen Johnson and were exploring ways to get him more playing time moving forward. Moving Collins to Utah certainly does this for the Hawks and Johnson now figures to hold a key role in their rotations.
Making this trade with Utah does not signal a rebuild or anything like that for the Hawks though, as general manager Landry Fields and Atlanta's ownership are continue to explore opportunities to improve their roster. Trae Young remains the focal point of the Hawks and finding more All-Star-level talent to put around him is what Atlanta strives to do.
Collins, 25, now begins the next chapter of his career after spending his first six NBA seasons with the Hawks. In 364 career regular season games, he has averaged 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 55.1 percent from the floor and 35.6 percent from three-point range.
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