Few players have been as disappointing as John Collins has been for the Utah Jazz. The big came over from the Atlanta Hawks in a trade that was still a good idea for the Jazz. They sent over a second-round draft pick and Rudy Gay, and either way you slice it, Collins has been better than an unnamed second-round rookie and an aging forward who's no longer in the league.
Yet, just because he's better than a nearly 40-year-old forward and a second-round rookie with no real expectations to their name yet, doesn't mean he's as good as he needs to be to warrant the money or minutes he's getting for the Jazz. We've spoken before about how Clarkson has been an upgrade over what the Jazz had, but still not as good as he needs to be to be in the starting lineup of this squad.
Collins has been poor all season, mostly on defense, not always putting the effort in and being slow to pick up his assignments. This has caused him to fall out of the rotation, a move that many thought was the right call as the team's overall play picked up when he was moved out of the starting five.
Now he's back in, however, and he's been less engaged than ever before. Since coming back to the starters rotation, he's played in four games, shot 24% from the field, 33% from three, just 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. He's somehow become a shell of his already shell-like self. And for some reason, Will Hardy continues to start Collins.
No matter the fact that the Jazz are better with him on the bench. No matter the fact that Collins is struggling to play well, or even put in any real effort. Collins has fallen so far from his expectations this offseason that it doesn't make sense to still put him over the likes of Kelly Olynyk.