On Wednesday, Utah Jazz forward John Collins made a crucial decision ahead of the NBA Draft. ESPN's Shams Charania broke the news that Collins has exercised his $26.5 million player option with the Jazz for this season.

In 2021, while with the Atlanta Hawks, Collins signed a five-year, $125 million deal that included this player option. The Jazz took on the contract when he was traded to Utah. He will likely play this contract year with the Jazz unless he is traded.

Collins is entering year nine. He has had a successful career and has a ton of gas left in the tank at just 27 years old. His second season with the Jazz was much better than his first, and it saw his third-highest scoring total of his career at 19.0 points per game. In 2019-20, he averaged 21.6 per game. The 6-foot-9 forward excels in the paint, where he is athletic enough to score over a majority of defenders. He can hit the open shot from the wing as well as a three-level scorer. It may not be now, but Collins can be a major impact player for a championship team. After this next season, he will be able to sign anywhere, and many teams will be in on the former first-round pick.

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Utah has not been a good team since they traded away Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and Mike Conley. Collins and Lauri Markkanen have tried to keep them competitive, but the wins are thin.

The Jazz own the fifth overall pick later tonight during the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. They have a chance to change the course of their direction and could be subject to trading either the pick or players on the roster. They have a handful of options, considering they are not projected to be a playoff team this next season.