Isaiah Collier entering Ja Morant territory in key stat shows Jazz in good hands

Late first-round picks typically don't do well in the NBA. Even if they pan out, it's not at first. The Utah Jazz have actually scored on their late first-round picks in recent years. Brice Sensabaugh didn't hit the ground running, but now he looks like a keeper. Isaiah Collier has his warts, but he's looked like a steal for Utah.

Look no further than the fact that he just broke the Jazz's franchise record for most assists by a rookie, which was previously held by John Stockton. Make no mistake, Collier can drop some dimes.

If breaking Stockton's record wasn't impressive enough, Collier has put up the highest assist numbers by a rookie since one of the NBA's biggest (albeit controversial) stars.

For clarity, Collier has not surpassed Morant in this case (yet), but before the Jazz's game against the Indiana Pacers tonight, he has 429 assists compared to Morant's 488. While it's not likely he'll get more than Morant when it's over (never say never), this demonstrates how NBA-ready Collier was as a playmaker this year.

Putting up around the same assists as one of the NBA's best point guards should not swept under the rug. It shows than even if the Jazz are one of the NBA's worst teams, he's undeniably been impactful on the floor.

The Jazz's offense began to look so much more fluid once they let Collier run things too. It goes to show how important having the right pieces around is. Beating Stockton and racking up the most assists by a rookie since Morant aren't the only impressive, rare feats Collier has achieved in his rookie season.

Collier might not necessarily be the next franchise player for the Jazz, but he's a piece of the puzzle. It wasn't like expectations weren't that high going in, so the fact that Collier has made himself into a legitimate rotation player is a great development for Utah.

However, there will be questions surrounding Collier long-term.

The one thing to keep in mind about Collier's future

Collier's playmaking have demonstrated that he is an NBA player, and that's satisfactory enough for the Jazz considering how late he was picked in the draft. However, mahy will keep their eyes peeled on what his ceiling truly is because his warts are also clear as day.

For everything that Collier has proven himself to be, he is no Steph Curry. Collier has shown that he is not a good shooter, and once the Jazz start trying to win games, opponents will dare Collier to beat them with his jumper.

Not having a reliable jumpshot isn't the worst thing in the world, but it can limit his ceiling. Another player who looked impressive as a playmaker in his rookie season but never got all that much better was Elfrid Payton. He had even more assists than Collier did, showing that he, too, was ready for the NBA as a passer.

Over time, opponents let him shoot, and that hurt his ceiling. It's not like Collier turning into Payton is bad because the latter stayed in the NBA for a decade. It's how Payton's career turned out that Collier should look at and motivate him to become a floor-spacer.

And Collier doesn't have to turn into Steph to elevate his game higher. He just has to be better than Payton. Collier's NBA career has already started out better than anyone could have expected. Now it's on him to strike while the iron is hot.