Hawks and Jazz have reportedly discussed John Collins trade

For the past three years, John Collins trade rumors have been swirling non-stop, and they aren’t stopping anytime soon. Atlanta has held on to their young power forward, but there’s a feeling around the league that they are finally ready to part ways with Collins before the trade deadline. Understandably, there’s interest from several competing teams. Most recently, the Jazz have been linked to John Collins in a trade that would send Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt back to Atlanta, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

After Utah’s early season success, league personnel is expecting the Jazz to reintroduce another seller into the trade deadline. Utah has received plenty of incoming calls on both Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt, sources told Yahoo Sports, with the Jazz’s perceived valuation of a first-round pick for each player. Perhaps Vanderbilt is another young forward the Pacers deem has enough upside to grow alongside Turner. The Jazz and Hawks have discussed a deal surrounding John Collins for Beasley and Vanderbilt, sources said, although Utah has lobbied Atlanta for a first-round pick in addition to Collins to complete that framework.

Beasley is an Atlanta native that I’ve wanted the Hawks to target for a while. He’s a microwave scorer that could improve their second unit substantially. But by himself, Beasley isn’t enough to warrant a John Collins trade.

Enter Jarred Vanderbilt, whose inclusion might force the Hawks to finally pull the trigger. Like Collins, Vanderbilt is an ultra-efficient power forward with the ability to stretch the floor from behind the arc. He’s also an above-average defense, something the Hawks need to desperately improve upon before the trade deadline.

A two-for-one swap in this situation seems fair. Collins hasn’t thrived in an offense with two dominant ball-handling guards. He’s much more talented than Vanderbilt, but the drop-off in production would likely be minimal for the Hawks, and Beasley would add some much-needed juice off the bench.

However, the first-round pick the Jazz are reportedly also hoping for could make a potential trade fall through. The Hawks don’t have many of those following their offseason acquisition of Dejounte Murray. Still, of all the John Collins rumors I’ve heard recently, this one at least feels sensible. We will see if it comes to fruition over the next month.