The Utah Jazz infamously helped facilitate the blockbuster Luka Doncic trade in the 2024-25 season. It does not look as though that organization wants to be doing the Los Angeles Lakers many favors from here. That is how things would appear, at first, after news of a three-team deal broke on Monday.
Shams Charania announced, "The [Los Angeles] Clippers, Jazz and [Miami] Heat have agreed to a trade that sends Norman Powell to Miami, John Collins to Los Angeles, and Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson and a 2027 Clippers second-round pick to the Jazz, sources tell ESPN."
There were murmurings that Collins could be a fit with Los Angeles' A-team, the Lakers. Instead, the high-flying big man is on his way to the Clippers for what was a shocking deal that materialized quietly.
Collins will now directly compete against the Lakers for in-town supremacy. The Jazz, meanwhile, settled for a very low price to make the move. There is a lot here that would cause Lakers fans to do a double take.
Lakers' enemies are stacking the deck, sort of...
In all fairness to this situation, the Lakers' interest in adding Collins was overplayed from the start. That was what Marc Stein suggested in late June.
The NBA insider made note of the several failed attempts by the Lakers to push for the acquisition of Walker Kessler leading to the idea of Collins to Los Angeles given life. To him, there was never a lot of weight to that claim.
Stein wrote, "Iβm told any suggestion that the Lakers are a trade suitor for the 27-year-old is a mischaracterization."
They were saying danny ainge wanted rui and an expiring from the Lakers for Collins & he ended up getting moved for KEVIN LOVE, KYLE ANDERSON & a 2nd lmaooo
either lakers tax is very real or these reports are horribly wrong https://t.co/Hx38TZtOJ8
β ππΌπ (@najeeadams_) July 7, 2025
Lakers fans who did have interest in seeing Collins donning the purple and gold were astounded at how lackluster the trade return was for the Jazz big man. Love, Anderson, and a second-round pick is certainly not what anyone would call a 'haul.'
Perhaps Utah was not jumping at the idea of helping Rob Pelinka again, but it is worth questioning whether they really hurt them at all with this trade. Does Collins going to the Clippers really elevate them in a large way? That is worth asking when looking at what they had to surrender here.
Powell has been an elite contributor for the Clippers since arriving there via trade from the Portland Trail Blazers. The veteran had a career-high 21.8 points per game in the 2024-25 campaign on efficient splits of 48-42-80.
Michael Scotto explained that his inclusion in this trade was due to the Clippers being 'reluctant to give Norman Powell a long-term extension as he enters the final year of his deal.' They cut their losses as a result, and quite frankly, downgraded in the process.
The Heat easily come out of this as the big winners of the trade. Some chunk of Lakers faithful may be disappointed at first, but in reality, they just watched their crosstown rival get worse. That is a cause for celebration.