Grading the John Collins trade for the Atlanta Hawks and Utah Jazz
After being on the trade block since the day he entered the NBA – or so it felt – power forward John Collins was finally traded on Monday in a deal that sent him from the Atlanta Hawks to the Utah Jazz.
The trade ends an era in Atlanta, while possibly signaling where the franchise intends to go next with Trae Young as its core star. Meanwhile, the intrigue for Utah’s rebuild only escalates as Danny Ainge keeps piling up an arsenal of big men.
This is the trade in full, 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
As far as NBA trades go, this one is pretty straightforward. The Jazz are getting Collins. The Hawks are getting Rudy Gay and a second-round draft pick. Very little complications there.
How did the Utah Jazz and Atlanta Hawks do in the trade that sent John Collins to Salt Lake City for Rudy Gay and a draft pick?
Then again, there’s always more than what meets the eye in the NBA. Teams are always jockeying to improve their draft capital or free up salary cap space, particularly at a time when the new collective bargaining agreement makes it even more constraining for owners to keep too much money on the books.
This offseason has already been busy for the trade market. Chris Paul has gone from Phoenix to Washington to Golden State. Jordan Poole is in Washington. Kristaps Porzingis is in Boston, while Marcus Smart is in Memphis. Bradley Beal is off to Phoenix. In all likelihood, the Collins transaction is not the last domino that will fall in the trade world.
So how did each team fare in this deal? Let’s take a look, starting with Atlanta.