By Cesare Milanti/ info@eurohoops.net
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the 25-year-old John Collins is set to move from the Atlanta Hawks to the Utah Jazz, joining forces with Lauri Markkanen and Simone Fontecchio.
The trade includes the veteran 36-year-old Rudy Gay and a future second-round pick, and it will help the Hawks “largely unloading Collins’ three years, $78M for some roster building flexibility and alignment with looming changes to salary cap”, as stated by Adrian Wojnarowski itself.
Coming out of Wake Forest University in 2017 and being selected with the No.19 pick in the same year’s NBA Draft, John Collins has always played with the Atlanta Hawks, alongside Trae Young. In the 2022-23 season, he had 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
As also announced by Adrian Wojnarowski, “The Hawks and Jazz have discussed numerous iterations of the deal for over a year”, and Atlanta is now “expected to continue to be in a deal-making mode this offseason, and ownership has given GM Landry Fields the OK to move into the luxury tax should it be necessary to improve the roster”.
ESPN Sources: The Hawks are finalizing a trade to send F/C John Collins to the Jazz for Rudy Gay and a future second-round pick. Atlanta’s largely unloading Collins’ three years, $78M for some roster building flexibility and alignment with looming changes to salary cap. pic.twitter.com/CpAfTNXKMq
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2023
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images