Multiple things can be true. The Utah Jazz got John Collins for a steal from the Atlanta Hawks and was an obvious upgrade over Rudy Gay. None of that has changed. It's all still true. What's also true is that Collins was expected to have a Lauri Markkanen-like emergence in Utah, where he'd finally be healthy and able to take the reigns properly, like many expected him to do in Atlanta. Yet, he has not done that. None of that actually has happened.
Collins has been a nice piece offensively, and if just his offense was being measured, the biggest knock is that he's overpaid. A good, valuable player, but overpaid. We're not just measuring that, however, as it turns out defense matters and he's not been great on defense. He's actively hurting the team defensively and his offense, while fine, isn't good enough to negate the terrible play on the other end of the court.
He's been pulled from the lineup due to his poor defensive effort, and it looks more and more likely that he'll get traded this offseason; just for what is anyone's guess. Yet, he could've done without the Dunk Heard Around the World.
Against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night, Anthony Edwards of the T-Wolves turned a fast break into the dunk of the year, posterizing Collins. The dunk was so violent that both men got injured on the play, with Edwards damaging his finger and Collins suffering a head injury.
ANTHONY EDWARDS OMG 😱🤯 pic.twitter.com/AJP27GCkxG
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 19, 2024
The injury for both men isn't expected to be serious but they'll both be feeling it for the foreseeable future.
Utah's John Collins has suffered a head contusion from play contesting Anthony Edwards' poster dunk tonight, sources say. Head injury but no concussion for Collins.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 19, 2024
If it were anyone else that Edwards dunked on, it'd be water under the bridge and onto the next one on Wednesday, but due to how up and down Collins has been this season, it almost felt like the dunk was a culmination of all of his and the team's struggles, manifested into a moment in time where Collins looks his most vulnerable. It's not going to be a moment anyone, least of all Collins, soon forget.
We're glad that Collins won't be out too long, if at all, but dang, that dunk just felt personal.