There was plenty of speculation about why the Atlanta Hawks traded John Collins.
After the trade sending Collins to the Utah Jazz for forward Rudy Gay and a conditional second-round pick was made official on July 7, general manager Landry Fields provided clarity.
“Being able to create financial flexibility moving forward was a major priority for us,” Fields said in a statement released through the team. “The added flexibility will give us greater optionality as we look at opportunities to improve our team.”
Atlanta avoided the luxury tax and generated a $25.