Hawks reportedly find trade partner for John Collins

The Hawks are trading forward John Collins to the Jazz in exchange for forward Rudy Gay and a second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Gay had a $6.48M player option for 2023-24 that he exercised as part of the deal, his agent Sam Permut of Roc Nation Sports tells Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Collins had been in trade rumors for multiple seasons, and now he’s finally on the move. Utah will acquire Collins using cap room, so the deal can’t be officially completed until July 6.

It’s essentially a salary-dump move to dip under the luxury tax line for Atlanta, much like the Kevin Huerter trade last offseason. Collins is owed $78M over the next three seasons, including a $26.58M player option in ’25-26.

In addition to significant financial flexibility, the Hawks will also generate a $25.34M trade exception — equivalent to Collins’ salary for ’23-24 — as part of the deal, Wojnarowski reports. That will be the league’s new largest outstanding trade exception, surpassing the $18.1M TPE the Nets created as part of the Kevin Durant deal in February.

It’s an interesting buy-low acquisition for the Jazz, who already have Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler and first-round pick Taylor Hendricks in their frontcourt.

Collins had a down season in ’22-23, averaging 13.1 PPG and 6.5 RPG on .508/.292/.803 shooting in 71 games (30.0 MPG), but he’s only 25 years old and holds career averages of 15.8 PPG and 8.0 RPG on .551/.356/.783 shooting across 364 games (29.2 MPG).

According to Wojnarowski, the two teams have discussed “numerous iterations” of a Collins trade for “over a year,” but Atlanta finally decided to move on due to a salary-cap crunch. The Hawks are expected to remain active in trade conversations, and GM Landry Fields has ownership’s permission to go above the tax threshold if it improves the roster, says Woj.

Atlanta’s newfound financial flexibility could be used to negotiate long-term extensions for Dejounte Murray, Onyeka Okongwu and Saddiq Bey, whom Wojnarowski refers to as “core players.”

Gay was a very good player for a long time, but age and injuries seemed to catch up with him last season. He posted career lows in points (5.2), rebounds (2.9) and minutes per game (14.6) in 56 games. He’s about to enter his 18th season and will turn 37 in August.