Tag: Isaiah Collier

Isaiah Collier has to be realistic about place in Jazz rotation

Isaiah Collier won’t have an easy time earning extended minutes with the Jazz next season.

USC guard Isaiah Collier is beginning to adjust to the NBA game and the realities of professional sports. Collier has potential, but that doesn’t mean everything is going to come together for him in his first NBA season. Utah Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune lays out a blueprint for the Jazz’ 2024-2025 NBA rotation in which Collier will be a bit player, not a centerpiece:

Isaiah Collier’s position as Utah’s fourth guard — behind Collin Sexton, Keyonte George, and Jordan Clarkson — seems relatively secure given the rest of the rotation. That usually means about 10 minutes per night, but that number might be additionally limited by the fact that George and Sexton can both play point guard.

For everyone else, though? There are real questions. The Jazz’s roster is still begging for a true small forward to play a significant role. Theoretically, any of Sensabaugh, Cody Williams, and Taylor Hendricks could be put in that spot, even starting. Sensabaugh’s the best shooter of the three, Hendricks probably the best defender, and Williams probably the best team offensive connector. Those minutes, however, could easily be squeezed by the Jazz choosing to play big.

The good thing about getting only 10 minutes is that when Collier is on the floor, he can go all-out and won’t have to worry about pacing himself. The real intrigue begins when Collier’s place in the rotation is reconsidered or when an injury occurs. Will Collier be ready to play 20 minutes if asked, and if so, can he make that adjustment during the season?

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Isaiah Collier learns on the job with Jazz in NBA summer league

Isaiah Collier took forward steps for the Jazz. Coaches liked how he played.

Isaiah Collier did not have a transformative and equation-changing NBA summer league with the Utah Jazz. He wasn’t the breakout star of this NBA summer. He also did not decrease his NBA stock. The general consensus is that Collier, the former USC Trojan, had a positive summer and grew in his knowledge and understanding of the pro game, particularly the speed of action and how he needs to work within that environment.

Collier is a longshot to be NBA Rookie of the Year, but his place within the larger pecking order of NBA rookies generally rose this summer. Jazz coaches feel that Collier took steps forward and played well over the past few weeks. He made his share of mistakes, but in a way which is natural for rookies. Collier did not look out of place or fundamentally unprepared for NBA basketball. He looked like he belonged on the court.

Jazz summer league coach Sean Sheldon talked more about Collier’s adjustment process and the need to understand how to use his body and take advantage of his athletic gifts.

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Isaiah Collier delivers strong NBA debut with Utah Jazz

Isaiah Collier puts his best feet forward in his first NBA game with the Jazz.

Former USC Trojans All-Pac-12 guard Isaiah Collier made a strong NBA summer debut with the Utah Jazz. Collier came off the bench and stuffed the stat sheet in a high-energy performance. It is notable that even though Collier is a first-round draft pick, he came off the bench in a summer game. One might think that a first-round pick would start in summer games, but the Jazz might have felt that bringing Collier off the bench in the summer makes sense because when the regular season arrives, Collier will definitely be a bench player in Utah. That thought process might have paid off, based on what we saw from Collier in his first NBA game.

Collier scored 14 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, handed out 6 assists, and collected 3 steals. That’s a lot of production in a reserve role. Collier was energized and active at both ends of the floor. He contributed in all facets of the game. Jazz beat writers noted that his defensive effort was better than what they saw on film at USC. NBA analysts were impressed with Collier’s playmaking ability, as the 6 assists indicate. This is a really positive showing, and we hope to see more of it.

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Isaiah Collier wasn’t the only Pac-12 NBA draft pick on the Jazz

Isaiah Collier can swap stories with another Pac-12 star who is joining him on the Jazz.

Isaiah Collier wasn’t the only Pac-12 NBA draft pick on the Utah Jazz a week ago. Colorado, like USC, is moving out of the no-longer-existing Pac-12, but in the last year of Pac-12 basketball, Cody Williams joined Collier as a Pac-12 first-round draft pick.

Rookie Wire has more on the Cody Williams-Isaiah Collier combination which is preparing to make some fresh new Jazz tunes at the NBA summer league:

The Jazz are in talent-collection mode and have added two highly touted players in Williams and Collier in the first round of the draft. They both project to have bright futures ahead and were highly ranked coming out of high school.

The two players will suit up for the Jazz in summer league, beginning in Salt Lake City on Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies. They will play at least five games in the NBA Summer League starting on July 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Williams and Collier will be joined by No. 32 pick Kyle Filipowski and roster players Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, Walker Kessler and Brice Sensabaugh, among others.

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Jazz first-round picks Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier sign rookie contracts

The Utah Jazz signed Cody Williams and Isaiah Collier to their rookie-scale contracts on Tuesday.

The Utah Jazz signed Cody Williams and Isaiah Collier, the 10th and 29th picks in the 2024 NBA draft, to their rookie-scale contracts on Tuesday, the team announced.

Williams was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team after averaging 11.9 points, three rebounds and 1.6 assists on 41.5% shooting from 3-point range in 24 games. He was second at Colorado in shooting percentage and blocks (16) while ranking third in scoring.

Collier averaged 16.3 points, 4.3 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals on 49% shooting from the field in 27 games at USC. He was selected to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after finishing fifth in scoring and eighth in assists in the country among true freshmen.

The Jazz are in talent-collection mode and have added two highly touted players in Williams and Collier in the first round of the draft. They both project to have bright futures ahead and were highly ranked coming out of high school.

The two players will suit up for the Jazz in summer league, beginning in Salt Lake City on Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies. They will play at least five games in the NBA Summer League starting on July 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Williams and Collier will be joined by No. 32 pick Kyle Filipowski and roster players Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, Walker Kessler and Brice Sensabaugh, among others.

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Isaiah Collier NBA draft fall had many reasons, not just Andy Enfield

It wasn’t just Andy Enfield’s bad season which pushed Isaiah Collier down the NBA draft board.

Why did USC’s Isaiah Collier fall so far in the NBA draft? USC having a bad season certainly contributed to that. Collier’s injury in January certainly was a factor as well. We have also noted that USC listed Collier as 6-5 (with shoes) when his height without shoes is 6 feet, 2.5 inches. A lot of different reasons created his fall from the late lottery (picks 10-14) to No. 29.

USA TODAY’s For The Win gathered some of those reasons:

Jonathan Givony (via ESPN): “Collier does have interest from teams in the late lottery, but there are realistic scenarios in which he falls toward the back of the first round. It can be difficult for competitive teams to find minutes for a point guard whose key areas for improvement are decision-making and long-range shooting — logically, Collier might need G League time, particularly if he lands with a playoff-level team.”

(snip)

Raphael Barlowe (via NBA Big Board): “His disappointing start to the season raised concerns about his inconsistent shooting, questionable basketball IQ, and puzzling turnovers.”

It’s not just the shooting, or the basketball IQ, or USC’s struggles, or Andy Enfield. A lot of different forces pushed Collier downward. The young man has a lot to work on as he prepares for the NBA summer league with the Utah Jazz.

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A bizarre twist might have cost Isaiah Collier several NBA draft slots

Listing a player’s height with shoes could have cost Isaiah Collier a few spots on the NBA draft big board.

The NBA draft is over, and USC’s Isaiah Collier fell to No. 29 on the big board, nearly tumbling out of the first round. Why did Collier, who was projected as a late lottery pick (10-14) in mid-May and then a top-21 pick for most of June, fall outside the top 25 and nearly the top 30? We can start with the most obvious reasons. He did not have a good season at USC. He suffered a midseason injury which slowed his development and limited the amount of film NBA teams were able to gather on him against quality competition. Yet, something else seemed to be part of the equation for NBA organizations who passed on Collier.

Longtime NBA reporter and beat writer Marc Spears noted that without shoes, Isaiah Collier is 6-foot, 2.5 inches tall. Yet, USC listed Collier as a 6-5 player. That’s quite a difference: two and a half inches with and without shoes. If any team or executive saw the 6-5 listing and then realized Collier was actually shorter than 6-3, the natural thought is: “Why was Collier’s height being inflated?” That certainly doesn’t inspire confidence.

Next year at the NBA draft, just list a person’s actual height — without the shoes.

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Trojans Wire discusses Isaiah Collier, Bronny James on Salt Lake City radio

We talked to KSL Sports in Salt Lake City about Isaiah Collier, the new Jazz Man.

We were invited back by the KSL Sports Zone, at 97.5 FM radio in Salt Lake City, to discuss USC sports topics Utah-based fans are interested in. Utahns are definitely interested in USC’s Isaiah Collier now that the former Trojan is a member of the Utah Jazz following the 2024 NBA draft. Bronny James is a national point of interest, so we also discussed LeBron’s son and the Lakers on our radio segment with KSL.

The whole segment is packed with various angles, but one of the especially interesting aspects of the discussion came when the hosts asked us what went wrong with USC basketball last season. Outsiders might have thought that the USC players just didn’t get along with each other or that the locker room wasn’t united. That really wasn’t the case. Players continued to play hard through the season. Recall how hard USC played in its last two games against Arizona. The Trojans put forth a strong effort late in the season instead of folding the tent. Why did things go so wrong? We offered the blunt truth about USC in this Collier-and-Bronny discussion at KSL Sports:

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Isaiah Collier’s likely role and minutes in Year 1 for Utah Jazz

Isaiah Collier will likely come off the bench but should get decent minutes (at least 15 per game) in his rookie season.

Wednesday night the Utah Jazz selected USC freshman guard Isaiah Collier with the 29th overall pick in the first round of the NBA draft. The freshman phenom fell way out of the lottery in the first round. Collier, the No. 1 recruit in the nation in the 2023 class, averaged 16.3 points, 4.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game last season for Andy Enfield and the USC Trojans.

Collier struggled during his freshman season and suffered a fracture to his hand in January, but now he has an opportunity to battle for point guard minutes with the Jazz.

At 6’5 Collier is a combo guard who can play the point and has the athleticism and elusiveness to play the shooting guard position as well. Collier can bring tons of energy to the floor and add pressure to a defense with his ball-handling, shiftiness and strength.

His frame also is sturdy and enables him to finish through contact at the rim. His decision-making can be shaky, but he’s a threatening setup man due to his elusiveness, gravity and passing skill. Turnovers will have to be limited for the rookie to have minutes on the Utah Jazz roster.

The Georgia native reminds me of Tyreke Hill and D’Angelo Russell for his ceiling in the NBA. Expect Collier to make an impact on this Jazz team with his instant offense off the bench. He won’t be a starter but will certainly get his share of minutes in Utah under coach Will Hardy.

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Utah fans will have to root for a USC Trojan

Utah fans love to see Trojans suffer. Isaiah Collier will become an exception in Salt Lake City.

In the last two years of Pac-12 football, the USC Trojans lost three times to the Utah Utes. No team was more of a nemesis for Lincoln Riley and the Men of Troy than Kyle Whittingham’s Utah team, which defeated USC in the 2022 Pac-12 Championship Game to deny the Trojans a spot in the College Football Playoff. Utah beat USC twice in 2022 and prevented the Trojans from having an unbeaten regular season, much as Washington did to Oregon last year. Kalen DeBoer did to Dan Lanning in 2023 what Whittingham did to Riley in 2022. Utah, having beaten USC twice in 2022, beat the Trojans again in 2023, this time in Los Angeles, where the Utes have historically struggled. Bryson Barnes led a game-winning field goal drive to break USC’s heart in the final minute. Utah fans reveled in USC’s suffering. Now, however, Utah fans will have to root for a USC player: Isaiah Collier got picked by the Utah Jazz in the 2024 NBA draft.

Collier becomes the latest piece in a prolonged Jazz rebuilding project. Utah has become a developmental NBA team in recent years after its big “start over” trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves which unloaded Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley. The Jazz will enter the 2024-2025 NBA season knowing they might not make the playoffs. Learning and growth will be the main goals for the season, while Conley and Gobert chase an NBA title with the contending T-Wolves. Collier isn’t likely to be an instant success in the NBA. Jazz fans are smart enough to know Collier will need two to three years to hit his stride and hopefully realize his pro potential. This is not an instant-impact situation where Collier is expected to immediately elevate the Jazz franchise. Hopefully Utah fans will eventually enjoy what a USC Trojan brings to the table. It probably won’t happen in one year. This — like the Jazz organization itself — is a long-term project in Salt Lake City.