The Atlanta Hawks have traded John Collins to the Utah Jazz and are acquiring forward Rudy Gay along with a future second-round pick.
The news was reported by NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski who also added that the move provides Atlanta with some financial flexibility. Collins is owed $78 million over the next three seasons.
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
The analyst also added that the trade creates a $25.3 million trade exception, which at the time of writing is the largest in the NBA. That said, the trade cannot become official until July 6.
He further added that the Hawks will continue to make their deals in the offseason and improve their roster after making the playoffs last season, but exited the first round after going down 4-2 to the Boston Celtics.
“The acquisition of Gay, who will exercise his $6.5 million player option for next season as part of the trade, allows the Hawks to drop far below the $182.5 million second apron and below the $165 million luxury tax threshold for the 2023-24 season,” Wojnarowski said, per an ESPN report.
Collins was the 19th overall pick in 2017 and was instrumental in the Hawks’ run as he made a case for himself as one of the more improved forwards. He averaged 15.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in six seasons with the Hawks, including 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds last season.
It’s interesting to see if the Hawks will also trade Trae Young in the days to come. The guard has been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“The Lakers have had internal discussions about what a hypothetical trade offer for Young could look like this summer, according to multiple league sources not authorized to speak publicly.”
It will be interesting to see what direction the team takes this summer. It is clear that there are multiple avenues the team could go, and the choices are clearly between a retooling or a full-scale rebuild.
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