Darren Collison is another name that has bounced around as a potential point guard on the block. A Burke for Collison trade would work for both teams with the Jazz taking on a larger but still manageable contract in Collison.
Collison has been a consistently good but not great point guard. The best season of his career came last year in Sacramento where he averaged 16.1 points per game with a 47.3 field goal percentage and 37.3 three-point percentage. His shooting percentages are up slightly this season, but his points are down.
Pros: Collison has certainly been more consistent than Burke thus far over the course of his career. The seventh year guard would bring some experience and veteran leadership to the Jazz and could potentially be a solid mentor to Exum in the ensuing seasons.
Cons: If the Jazz are truly trying to make a move that would help them improve at the point guard spot, this wouldn’t necessarily be the greatest solution. While Collison would likely start for the Jazz, he has been coming off the bench for the Kings. The Jazz are typically pretty cautious when it comes to trades and probably wouldn’t look to make a move that didn’t overwhelmingly benefit them.
Verdict: I wouldn’t be opposed to this trade, but I don’t see it being one that the Jazz (or the Kings for that matter) pull the trigger on. It would be a rather lateral move with no incredible benefit coming to either team.
The ESPN Trade Machine has this move resulting in two less wins for the Kings and having no effect on the Jazz. While Collison’s improved efficiency and experience could be an upgrade over Burke, it’s likely that if this trade went down it would result in little fanfare.
Next: George Hill