John Collins could help a team, an athletic forward averaging 13.5 points and 7.7 rebounds a game, and he feels like the kind of player who would benefit from a change of scenery. However, teams looked at the $76.2 million he is guaranteed over the three seasons and balked (the final year of that is a player option).
The old front office — which gave Collins that contract — wanted real value back in any trade. However, new GM Landry Fields and his front office has dropped the price and the demand for a first-round pick, reports Sam Amick at The Athletic.
The same goes for Murray. Collins is the most likely one on the way out, of course, and it’s worth repeating that the asking price is known to have decreased significantly from recent years (per league sources, there is a focus on landing a quality player, or players, in return but no mandate for a first-round pick). That development is clearly a reflection of the focus on salvaging this season, as opposed to recouping the vast assets lost in the Murray trade with San Antonio in the summer. As we’ve reported recently, the Jazz and Rockets are known to be among the teams in pursuit.
Both the Jazz and Rockets see Collins as potentially part of what they are building (in Utah he makes an interesting frontcourt partner with Lauri Markkanen). He would make sense for teams such as Miami looking for help at the four, but that much money on the back end of this team would have them cautious.
Keep Collins on your radar, he (along with Bones Hyland in Denver and Cam Reddish with the Knicks) is one of the players most likely to be traded at the deadline.
