NBA Rumors: Jazz Almost Traded John Collins to Kings

The Utah Jazz trade landscape has been in an interesting spot across the last few weeks.
While several names on the roster have been mentioned in many rumors and trade whispers around the league, nothing substantial has come to form, with the Jazz still only having one deal on the books for this season, swapping three first-round picks for the Phoenix Suns' 2031 first.
However, it seems as if the Jazz were almost involved in a big deal that nearly took place not too long ago, but the trade ultimately fell through.
According to James Ham of The Kings Beat, the Sacramento Kings supposedly had a deal in place to trade for Jazz forward John Collins, and told their players that the move was going to happen before things never materialized.
“I know [the Kings] had a deal worked out for somebody a week ago, and they went and told their players… and then they didn’t do it," said Ham.
That "somebody" ended up being John Collins.
The deal was for John Collins. pic.twitter.com/DDr3EtmCTE https://t.co/dW00V1bzoe
— KeeganMuse (@KeegMuse) January 29, 2025
Collins has been widely rumored on the Kings' radar since the trade season kicked off, and it seems they got extremely close to making the acquisition happen, even close enough to the point where Sacramento informed their players about it.
Yet, now only one week from the deadline, Collins is still in Utah while the Kings haven't swung on a move.
Collins has been a productive piece of the Jazz's rotation when on the floor. He's averaged 18.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists on 53.1% shooting from the field and a career-best 44.6% from the three-point line.
As the window for trades continues to shrink across the coming weeks, the Jazz should be expected to keep searching for deals involving Collins– whether a potential deal involves Sacramento or not.
Considering the newest developments surrounding De'Aaron Fox's future and how that could impact the Kings' deadline approach, making ends meet with them could be a tough ask. Still, other teams around the league could get involved in talks. Interest in Collins around the league seems to be at its highest since he arrived in Salt Lake City, and as a result, Utah's front office could capitalize big-time.
The NBA trade deadline rooms right around the corner on February 6th at 1 PM MT.
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