The Utah Jazz founnd themselves within NBA headlines at the start of the new week because of their recent roster moves surrounding the future of Isaiah Collier and Ace Bailey.

One of those updates came as expected. But another update wasn't quite as expected.

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Jazz will not only be accepting the third-year team option for Ace Bailey heading into the 2027 offseason, but the team will also be declining Isaiah Collier's fourth-year team option for his respective rookie deal.

The 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

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) November 2, 2026

The Jazz were due to decide upon the futures of both contracts heading into this coming summer, as both are still signed onto their initial four-year contracts that were inked upon their selection to Utah in both 2024 and 2025.

For Bailey, his accepted option means he'll be in Utah contractually until at least 2028. No surprise there. But for Collier, the Jazz declining his option means that Collier will be an unrestricted free agent come 2027. And there's a good chance that's a sign that the front office doesn't plan to re-sign him this coming summer.

And while an eye-catching, slightly unexpected move on Collier's contract, it might also be one that's a bit of a poor decision when looking at the grand scheme of things.

Why the Jazz Should've Accepted Isaiah Collier's Option

Now, there's little argument around the fact that Collier's start to the 2026-27 season hasn't been up to the level that anyone in the organization would've hoped for.

Through the first six games that Collier has played this season, he's averaged 7.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 5.7 assists, also shooting a poor 36.8% from the field, and has missed all eight of his three-point attempts within those appearances.

When looking at his lack of production to start the season, it's easy to make the claim that the Jazz shouldn't be going out of their way to sign Collier to an extension, or even get him onto his fourth-year team option. He simply hasn't played up to the level of being deserving of that commitment.

But where the value in Collier's team option lies is the amount that the Jazz would've been due to pay him for the 2026-27 season, if they wanted to keep him around for at least one more season.

Collier's fourth-year team option was set at a value of $4.9 million, which is less than 3% of the league's salary cap. It's only a few million above the numbers required for a veteran minimum contract, and Collier has much more value than such a deal would suggest.

As the 29th pick in the draft two summers ago, Collier would be getting paid significantly less on his fourth-year option than some of his other draft classmates, which should've given the Jazz more incentive to keep him around compared to had he been selected higher.

He's young, cheap talent who's still developing and able to play rotational minutes on a nightly basis. As a playmaker and rim-finisher, he certainly is a positive player for the Jazz's second unit when he's firing on all cylinders.

Even if he continues down his current track record of production for this season into the later months of the year, he still has the potential that would make a short-term investment of under $5 million worth a roster spot. Worst-case scenario, the Jazz phase him out of the rotation and find another guard to fill those minutes in the second unit.

However, now, we might've just reached the beginning of the end for Collier's time in Salt Lake City. Perhaps a strong second half to the season could change that fate, but if the Jazz had any confidence he could turn things around to the level they're looking for, he wouldn't be playing in a contract year now because of it.