Why the Utah Jazz waited for USC’s Isaiah Collier to fall to them in the NBA Draft

Utah Jazz general manager Justin Zanik held out hope that Isaiah Collier would be there by the time the 29th pick rolled around.

As the draft snaked into the late teens Wednesday night, Zanik was fielding calls from other teams and considering trading up. There were options, he said, to move into the early twenties where Collier was projected. That would all but guarantee Collier could become a member of the Jazz.

Truthfully, even if Collier wasn’t available, Zanik still liked a few players in that slot.

But the GM kept looking at the draft models and thought the man he wanted might still be available even if they didn’t move up.

Turns out, the waiting game paid off. Collier slid in the draft to the Jazz at 29. Zanik got what he wanted. And now the Jazz hope to unlock the potential that once made Collier the top recruit in the country.

“The only thing that I could predict [about this draft] was that it was going to be unpredictable,” Zanik said on whether he thought he’d end up with USC’s guard.

“You start getting calls and weighing whether you trade up, trade down, trade back. And, you know, a lot of our modeling just said for us to stay put. And it made sense,” the GM continued. “And we’re thrilled with how the draft went. Thrilled.”

Ultimately, the Jazz came away with Colorado’s Cody Williams with the 10th-overall pick and Collier at 29. Williams was always a possibility for the Jazz to go in the top 10. But most prognosticators had Collier going much earlier — inside the top 20, or at least in the early 20s.

Even Collier was surprised to be available when the Jazz picked late in the first round. By his account, he thought he was one of the “best players in the draft.” He didn’t work out with Utah in the pre-draft process. But he did meet with some of Utah’s decision makers in Chicago at the NBA Combine.

“Of course I was surprised a little bit, just being around at 29,” he said. “But for me, I still feel like I’m one of the best players in this draft.”

Collier has been seen as one of the best pure talents in this class for several years. Going into last summer, some had him pegged as the No. 1 pick in this draft.

He was the top recruit in the 2023 cycle when he signed on to USC.

But the season fell off quickly in Los Angeles, and so did Collier’s draft stock. The 6-foot-3 guard was injured early in the season and then missed an entire month of conference play with a hand issue. While he was explosive getting to the rim, he struggled to shoot the ball consistently.

He ended up shooting 49 percent from the floor and 33 percent from three. Some scouts quietly worried about the level of shooter he’d be in the NBA. His explosiveness as an athlete could work well in high school and college — where he averaged 16 points a game — but would it translate as well to the NBA?

Even Zanik knows he won’t be able to get downhill as easily in the NBA. But he believes the shooting will come to supplement his game. The GM doesn’t think there is a structural issue with the draft pick’s shot.

“I’m not making excuses at all, but when you’ve been so dominant in the high school level, and even college, to get in the paint whenever you want ... you can make an argument of whether he’s had enough reps [shooting] or not,” Zanik said.

“... I think he hasn’t shown it as much because he’s been so dominant that way. So all of them need work, but we’re fine with the mechanics.”

Besides, what drew Zanik to Collier in the first place was the ability to create off the dribble and play in space. He was a creative finisher at the rim in college and distributed it well. He had the highest usage rate at USC last year and an assist rate of over 30. That was 57th in the country.

That is what Zanik is betting on. He wasn’t concerned, like some other teams were, with the high turnover rate that coupled those numbers. He saw an adjustment halfway through the year where Collier cut down on the amount of giveaways.

“We’ll make some tweaks but it’s really his pace and his ability to see, his ability to make others better,” he said. “To be able to score for himself and create for himself as big qualities.”

Collier will have an early opportunity to get minutes with a young core. He already has an extensive relationship with point guard Keyonte George dating back to high school. The two also worked out in Los Angeles when George would visit the area.

“I feel like I’m ready for the situation,” Collier said. “Seeing the young core that Utah has, I’m just looking forward to gelling with the guys and getting better.”

As the night ended, Zanik briefly reflected again on some of the chances he had to move off the 29th pick. There was always a thought in his head that he could pay for the certainty, move up to the early 20s and get his player.

But he was happy he waited. Collier’s slide, in his mind, was Utah’s gain.

“As the draft started to fall, there was a very high percentage chance on our probability markers that the guys that we liked were going to be there [at 29],” he said. “So we are absolutely thrilled that Isaiah was available for us to take.”

Now the work begins.