NBA trade rumors: Hawks lower John Collins asking price; Jazz, Rockets remain interested
If the Atlanta Hawks haven't been the league's most disappointing team this season, they're not far off. After a beatdown of the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, the Hawks are 26-26 and clinging to a play-in spot, just a single game up on the 11th-place Chicago Bulls in the loss column.
Does Atlanta have a move up its sleeve before next Thursday's NBA trade deadline? On Wednesday, Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that "half the league" is calling the Hawks about Bogdan Bogdanovic, but it's John Collins who is "most likely" to be traded, with the Hawks having recently reduced their asking price for the athletic forward.
From Amick:
[Trae] Young isn't going anywhere. The same goes for [Dejounte] Murray. Collins is the most likely one on the way out, of course, and it's worth repeating that the asking price is known to have decreased significantly from recent years (per league sources, there is a focus on landing a quality player, or players, in return but no mandate for a first-round pick).
That development is clearly a reflection of the focus on salvaging this season, as opposed to recouping the vast assets lost in the Murray trade with San Antonio in the summer. As we've reported recently, the Jazz and Rockets are known to be among the teams in pursuit [of Collins].
Collins has been on the trade block for a few years now, but former GM Travis Schlenk was never moved enough by any of the packages offered for Collins to pull the trigger. It started back in 2021 when the Hawks caught fire late and suddenly moving Collins at the deadline threatened to interrupt the good vibes.
After making a surprise trip to the conference finals that year, Schlenk inked Collins to a five-year, $125 million extension. It didn't remove Collins entirely from trade consideration, but with Schlenk no longer pulling the levers and Landry Fields now in charge, the desire to deal Collins, who has been pretty well fazed out of Atlanta's offense, has ramped back up.
Problem is, that contract Schlenk gave Collins is now considered to be a hinderance for Atlanta, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Turns out, teams aren't too keen on paying nearly $80 million to a guy who has lost his 3-point shot, and thus his ability to stretch the floor. Collins is due $25.3 million and $26.6 million in each of the next two seasons, and a potential for another $26.6 million player option in 2026.
Atlanta might be willing to make a Collins deal without asking for a first-round pick in return, but it's highly unlikely that they view him as some kind of salary dump that would require them attaching one of their own picks to a deal.
We'll see how motivated Atlanta is to get a deal done with its season teetering.
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