3 surprising teams who could be in the mix to trade for John Collins

1. Utah Jazz

Heading into this season, most NBA experts believed the Jazz were ready to push the button on a total teardown. Offloading Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell for draft assets seemed to indicate a clear path toward a high lottery pick for Utah.

Instead, the Jazz have turned Lauri Markkanen into a borderline All-Star who is leading this mismatched roster toward a potential playoff berth in the Western Conference. There’s no clear indication that Danny Ainge’s front office is ready to make a win-now move, but if they are, landing Collins would make a lot of sense.

Jarred Vanderbilt has given Utah nice energy as their starter at the power forward spot, but he lacks the skill to really keep the floor open with the starting unit. Markkanen’s ability to really shoot the ball from three at a high level would leave Collins with a ton of room to operate near the basket.

The Jazz have enough draft assets to blow away the competition to land any player they want over the next couple of seasons. It’s unclear whether or not they value Collins as a potential cornerstone. If they do, it’s easy to see them swing a deal for him to bolster their chances of making the playoffs this year.