Isaiah Collier avoided Lakers, Knicks, Sixers, and it’s probably for the best

Isaiah Collier did not join an NBA organization which is fiercely and vigorously pursuing a championship. On one hand, that could be seen as a negative. Why not be part of a team which can instantly do something special? Why not be exposed to a championship culture where the appetite for success is enormous? It’s a fair question. Collier will start his NBA career with the Utah Jazz after getting picked at No. 29 in the NBA draft . To be sure, the No. 29 pick is a lot lower than Collier wanted. However, Utah is a good spot for a rookie whose game needs time to develop.

Collier avoided the New York Knicks, who easily could have picked him at No. 25 or 26. The New York media would have wanted Collier to become an instant success, the kind of player he’s probably not ready to become. Collier likely needs two if not three years to get his game in order and fix his jump shot. Imagine being in the New York fishbowl, answering constant questions about a broken jumper.

Also consider the example of Markelle Fultz, the promising lottery pick who never did fix his jump shot and was smothered in Philadelphia as a member of the 76ers. Collier should be glad he didn’t land in Philly, where the natives are restless after yet another failed season, and where Joel Embiid’s career is not reaching a championship standard due to a lack of help from his teammates. That would not have been the place to patiently develop a career and improve as a player.

In Los Angeles, LeBron James is hungry to win one more NBA title before he ends his career. As LeBron Wire notes, “an article in The Athletic revealed that both James and Anthony Davis want badly for the Lakers to get them a third star or major difference-maker.” The Lakers are in win-now mode, as are the Knicks and Sixers. Those are not environments suited to a player such as Isaiah Collier who needs to work on his game and go through NBA growing pains.

Collier on the Lakers might have seemed like a fairy tale in one sense, but if you pull back and evaluate what’s best for Collier, it’s probably a good thing he avoided Los Angeles, as well as New York and Philly. Utah should give Collier one thing the USC Trojan needs: time to develop.

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