Utah Jazz: Isaiah Collier Continues to Impress

The Jazz rookie is nearly on pace to set the rookie assists-per-game metric.

Mar 17, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (13) gets past Chicago Bulls guard Kevin Huerter (13) and to the basket during the first quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images / Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

Coming out of high school, Isaiah Collier was considered a top-three pick in the 2024 NBA Draft before the 2023-24 season started. A unanimous five-star recruit, Collier, who hails from Atlanta, Georgia, was a truly dominant high school player who looked to be a star at the collegiate level.

While his counting stats were elite at USC, scoring 16.4 points per game, he turned the ball over at a very high rate – 3.3 per game – compared to 4.3 assists. This, his poor shooting from deep, and USC's poor record turned scouts off from his game, causing him to slip all the way to pick 29 of the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, something plenty of teams would regret in hindsight.

The Jazz selected him near the end of the first round, and for the first couple of months, he averaged just 17 minutes per game. However, once Collier began to earn more minutes, his assist numbers began to skyrocket. Currently, he is averaging 6.2 dimes per game, which is just 0.2 off of the rookie record set by Josh Giddey in the 2021-22 season.

His ability as a true lead initiator is raising his value nightly, even if his scoring numbers aren't there (7.8 points per game). The other thing he's done well is attack the glass despite standing at just 6-foot-3; he is grabbing 3.3 boards per game, only adding dimension to his game overall.

On a Jazz team that is currently on pace to have the best odds at the number-one overall pick, a player like Cooper Flagg could possibly be on the table. Should they land a player like Flagg or Ace Bailey, or even another guard in Dylan Harper, Utah could be set up for much better seasons going forward.

Ideally, Collier is a part of the rotation going forward, as his ability to facilitate at a high level is a skill that is extremely valuable in the NBA, especially when it is a second-unit guard sitting behind Collin Sexton, Keyonte George, and Jordan Clarkson.

For Utah, keeping a player like Collier in the rotation can create a huge advantage for the second unit, as typically players with this much ability to create offense for others are in the starting lineup. Whether or not Collier breaks into the starting lineup at some point remains to be seen, but he is in a good spot to develop and become the player people thought he would be out of Wheeler High School.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.