Isaiah Collier’s season has started to look a lot different than it did when the Utah Jazz made their call on his future.
A couple of weeks ago, Utah declined the fourth-year team option on Collier, a move worth $4.9 million for next offseason. That decision left him headed toward unrestricted free agency this summer and, at the time, it seemed to line up with where things stood: Collier was struggling, bouncing in and out of the rotation, and the Jazz had other young guards to lean on in Keyonte George and Darryn Peterson.
But Collier has started to swing the conversation back in his direction.
Utah Jazz will decline their team option on Isaiah Collier worth $4.99 million for the 2027-28 season, sources told @hoopshype. Collier has averaged 9.9 points, 6.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals in three seasons. He’ll be a coveted unrestricted free agent. pic.twitter.com/NDguwgdJVo
The Jazz are still dealing with a rough 1-11 start, and Collier has had his share of uneven moments too. Even so, his play over the last few games has been a clear step up from where he was after the first five contests.
At that point, he was putting up just 7.4 points per game while shooting 33.3% from the field, along with a 2.5 AST-to-TO ratio. That wasn’t giving Utah much from a backcourt spot that needed more steadiness.
Since then, the scoring has come around. Collier is now at 45.3% shooting overall and 35.7% from three-point range, which is a much cleaner picture for a player trying to carve out a bigger role.
The playmaking numbers have not popped the same way. He’s down to 4.1 assists per game, well below the 7.2 he averaged during the 2025-26 campaign, and he’s also averaging 2.0 turnovers a night. But there’s another piece to that story: he’s playing less.
Collier is getting 16 minutes a game now, compared to the 25-plus minutes he saw in his first two seasons. On a per-36 basis, though, the assist production still lines up with what he did last year. He’s averaging 9.2 assists per 36 minutes through the first 12 games, close to the 10.0 he posted in his sophomore season.
That leaves Utah with a guard who is scoring more efficiently, still creating at a useful level, and providing depth behind George and Peterson. On a roster where only those two clearly stand out as reliable point guards, that matters.
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The bigger issue for the Jazz is what happens next. If Collier keeps trending this way, he could end up being more valuable than the price tag Utah passed on.
A deal under $5 million for this season would have given the Jazz a cheap piece with real utility. Instead, they’ve already put him on track to hit free agency at the end of the year, where he could cost more and leave for nothing in return.
It’s still early, and 12 games is not enough to lock in a final verdict on the decision. Collier’s value can still move in either direction over a long season.
But right now, the signs are pointing toward a player who may be making Utah rethink that choice. If this run continues, the Jazz could be watching a 22-year-old guard play his way into a stronger market somewhere else.
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