The Milwaukee Bucks had serious internal discussions about trading for power forward John Collins, according to NBA insider Zach Lowe.
The Atlanta Hawks wound up trading Collins to the Utah Jazz for small forward Rudy Gay and a second-round draft pick.
“A team I heard at least had some relatively serious internal discussions about, ‘Should we wade into the John Collins thing,’ and I don’t know if they contacted Atlanta or how serious it got, was Milwaukee,” Lowe said on his podcast. “And that’s interesting to me because I do think Milwaukee is looking around for like, ‘Can we get a little just injection of randomness? An injection of like balance and athleticism. And just change. Maybe just change more than anything else. I don’t think it went anywhere serious.”
The Bucks are focused on re-signing All-Stars Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez after not trading for Collins, league sources told NBA Analysis Network. Both Middleton and Lopez become unrestricted free agents on June 30.
Milwaukee has also been connected to former MVP Derrick Rose, who becomes a free agent on June 30 as well after the New York Knicks didn’t pick up his 2023-24 team option.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: John Collins, Milwaukee Bucks, Utah Jazz & Atlanta Hawks Updates
The Hawks have been trying to trade Collins for several years and they finally reached a deal with the Jazz. The 25-year-old Collins averaged 13.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists this past season while shooting 50.8% from the field, 29.2% from beyond the arc and 80.3% from the free-throw line.
Atlanta signed Collins to a five-year, $125 million contract in August 2021. Collins has career averages of 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists with the Hawks in 364 games. He was the 19th overall pick in the 2017 draft.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: John Collins, Milwaukee Bucks, Utah Jazz & Atlanta Hawks Updates
A Utah native, Collins had good chemistry with All-Star point guard Trae Young in the pick-and-roll game, but that didn’t stop the Hawks from shopping and ultimately trading Collins.
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