Bucks Trade Rumors: John Collins Subject of Internal Discussion Before Jazz Deal

The Milwaukee Bucks reportedly considered pursuing John Collins.

ESPN's Zach Lowe explained the situation on his podcast (h/t RealGM):

"A team I heard at least had some relatively serious internal discussions about 'Should we wade into the John Collins thing?' And I don't know if they contacted Atlanta or how serious it got, was Milwaukee. And that's interesting to me because I do think Milwaukee is looking around for, like, 'Can we get a little just injection of randomness? An injection of, like, balance and athleticism. And just change. Maybe just change more than anything else. I don't think it went anywhere serious."

The Atlanta Hawks ultimately traded Collins to the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gay and a future second-round draft pick.

There was no shortage of trade rumors surrounding Collins for much of his time on the Hawks, but he was still a double-double threat who averaged 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game during six seasons in Atlanta.

Milwaukee is facing a critical offseason and will be under the spotlight after its shocking first-round loss to the Miami Heat.

While Giannis Antetokounmpo dealt with an injury during the series, it was not the type of matchup the team with the league's best record is expected to lose. Milwaukee responded by firing head coach Mike Budenholzer and hiring Adrian Griffin.

Key players Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton are also free agents, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see some type of player movement.

Collins could have been an important frontcourt addition to make up for the loss of Lopez if the latter does sign somewhere else. Even if the Bucks brought Lopez back, Collins would have been another capable player who could take advantage of the spacing created by Antetokounmpo.

Alas, he will instead suit up for the Jazz as they attempt to make a playoff run in the Western Conference.