When the Utah Jazz picked up USC’s star point guard and top player in his high school class, Isaiah Collier, with the 29th pick in this past NBA Draft, a small earthquake must have been detected in the Salt Lake Valley.
Isaiah Collier—yes, the top player in the ‘23 recruiting class—somehow fell out of the lottery, tumbled through the teens, and was finally snagged by the awaiting arms of the Utah Jazz. For Collier, draft night was an unmitigated disaster. For his new team, that same night was an unbelievable success.
In only a few weeks of NBA exposure, Collier’s image has come out a bit fuzzy. He’s averaging 3.5 points and 3.3 assists per night in his 16-minute allotment but has shown flashes of becoming a more than capable NBA-level guard.
Stockton Kings v Salt Lake City Stars Collier spent a short moment with the Salt Lake Stars.
Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images
His biggest weakness? The shot. While he’s proficient in taking his defender off the dribble and rumbling downhill like a freight train, when it comes time to delicately stroke the canvas from 3-point land, he tends to punch through his masterpiece long before actualization.
Shooting 33% from the field to pair with 14% from long range is highly concerning for a position that mandates a scoring threat in the modern NBA. His free throw percentage is equally alarming, hitting only 44% from the stripe.
With obvious improvement necessary for Collier’s development, the Jazz sent their rookie guard to join Cody Williams and the Salt Lake City Stars.
The very next day, Utah called Collier back up to join their NBA roster.
That didn’t take long.
So what happened in that 24-hour span that compelled the Jazz to fish their young guard out of the G-League waters after deliberately casting him to the sea only a day later? Unquestionable brilliance on a basketball court.
Leading the Stars in their NBA Paint-inspired uniforms, Isaiah erupted for 36 points in 28 minutes of playing time. He added 5 assists and a trio of rebounds to his box score, but what impressed us most was his inexplicable efficiency.
The former Trojan shot 15-18 from the field, and 5-6 from long range. Whatever he ate for breakfast that morning was clearly laced with Micheal’s secret stuff—Isaiah Collier imposed his will upon his G-League competition. It was pure domination from start to finish—bliss for Jazz fans and Stars fans alike (if such a thing exists).
Dropping Collier to the G-League was like lowering him into a human slingshot—the further he stretched, the quicker his ascent. And his ascent was rapid, to state it simply.
Confidence embodied, Collier took to the floor understanding that he was the best player in this matchup, and intended to show that to the world. Doubt him at your own peril—this kid was the top recruit in the 2023 class for a reason.
Now back in a Jazz uniform, Collier will need to flex his rejuvenated self-assurance at the NBA level. He’ll continue as Keyonte and Sexton’s understudy, but his minutes off the bench may see an extra shot of swagger if he maintains this level of play.
Will the shooting splits reflect equally in the NBA? No way. But now that we’ve seen that Collier is capable of dominating lesser competition, it’s clear that he belongs in an NBA uniform.
Utah will leave the G-League as a training ground for players who need extra time in the incubator, a la Cody Williams, Brice Sensabaugh, etc. Isaiah Collier isn’t without his shortcomings, but he’s NBA-ready. Let’s see how he advances from here.