Grade the Trade: Cavaliers add prolific forward in new mock

John Collins was the name at the top of everyone’s “players most likely to be traded” lists for years, which did him a disservice as he was still a productive player for the Atlanta Hawks. As his role diminished, however, so did his value around the league.

The Utah Jazz finally traded for him this summer, paying essentially nothing to absorb him into cap space. They have a crowded frontcourt rotation, however, so it’s not crazy to think that they could look to move the power forward to another team.

That’s the theory behind why Zach Buckley at Bleacher Report built this trade for the Jazz:

Utah has Walker Kessler as their long-term center, Lauri Markkanen as a natural 4 they’re playing at the 3, and they drafted Taylor Hendricks in the top 10 of this year’s draft. Add in Kelly Olynyk and Omer Yurtseven and their frontcourt is packed; shifting their roster balance would make sense.

Isaac Okoro is also unlike any other player on their roster, a true on-ball defensive pest to shadow opposing guards; he’s the antithesis of Collin Sexton in many ways, the shooting guard the Jazz got from Cleveland last summer. Caris LeVert can be the bench-scoring counterpart to Jordan Clarkson on the first unit.

More importantly, the Jazz clear long-term money, as Collins is still owed $78 million over the next three years. That gives them flexibility to continue reshaping their roster over the next couple of seasons.

This is a bold move for the Jazz; how should the Cavaliers feel about it?