John Collins has done a complete 180 with the Utah Jazz this season. In short, he's returned to form after being perceived as having negative value coming into the season. Whether he's started or come off the bench, Collins has thrived in whatever role the Jazz have given him.
He's played so well that it's no longer unreasonable to believe that the Jazz could trade him without giving up any assets to do it. Now, to be fair, that doesn't erase the fact that Collins was downright terrible in his first season with the Jazz, but his play this season has proven something that Hawks fans knew from his time in Atlanta.
When Collins knows his role, he thrives
Collins has and always will be a lob threat until the day he retires from the NBA. Even when he was bad, he still is a threat for an alley-oop. What made him such a useful player is because he could create his own shot and provide some floor-spacing. With the Jazz, that has become more apparent this year.
Collins is scoring 1.25 points per possession in isolation, which would put him in the 97th percentile, per NBA.com. The Jazz may not use Collins frequently in iso (4.3%) since they have other scorers, but it shows how he's become a weapon, especially when comparing it to last season, where, in similar frequency, Collins scored 0.27 ppp, which put him below the first percentile.
His three-point shooting percentage went from a respectable 37.1% to a blazing-hot 45.3%. This is the version of Collins that helped the Hawks go on their surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021. This is the Collins that Utah envisioned when they brought him in.
Has it translated into wins? Of course not, but unlike last season, Collins' production would be the last reason Utah has fared as badly as they have. If anything, his play has played a role in why their start has been easier to stomach than one would think.
Really, his resurgence has contributed to the Jazz's being a watchable team despite being one of the worst in the NBA. There's no doubt that this season is going down the toilet, but Collins' thriving as well as he has despite the Jazz's issues has been a welcome subplot in a season that many already knew wasn't going anywhere.
Now, of course, the elephant in the room is, does this mean the Jazz will try to trade him? Collins has definitely shown up in trade rumors, alongside Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson, and if the answer is yes, now might be the perfect time to get rid of him while his value is redeemed.
However, reports have indicated that Collins has been a good soldier and a good influence in the Jazz's locker room. While it may sound like the Jazz don't have much to lose if they traded him, they also don't have much to lose if they kept him because they're going to lose a crap ton of games with or without him.
Sure, Collins is overpaid, but he hasn't been a bad apple during a time when it's easy to be just that. No one will blame the Jazz if they trade him, but no one should blame the Jazz if they don't.