Jazz traded John Collins because he was too good at winning

Billy Heyen

Jazz traded John Collins because he was too good at winning image

The Utah Jazz tanked for Cooper Flagg last season.

It didn't work, but it looks like they might be running it back for the chance to draft one of Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa or Cameron Boozer.

And to do that, they had to trade John Collins.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon revealed in a new interview that the Jazz traded Collins because he was too good at winning.

"He was too d— productive last season," MacMahon said. "I don't even remember all the injuries they came up with to make sure he didn't play. They limited him to 40 games last year. He played in 70-plus percent of their wins. They didn't win much, but they won too often with John Collins in the lineup and he was a reason."

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Collins will now be with the Los Angeles Clippers, who actually want to win.

In his 40 games last season, Collins shot 52.7% from the floor and 39.9% from 3-point range. He averaged 19.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

He'll turn 28 in September and is still in his prime, having added a lot of skill to the high-flying ability he always had.

Apparently, that's too good for Utah.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle