One of the best stories recently in the NBA has been second-year former Trojan Isaiah Collier continuing to make the most of his opportunities. After Collier’s career night, dishing out 22 assists, 17 points, and 3 steals, Collier built off that and led his team in scoring.

The Jazz have been without Keyonte George, and Collier is making up for the majority of his impact. Collier last night had a team-high 25 points, 11 assists, and 3 steals again. Collier has now had 5 straight games with a steal and a combined 13 steals in that span. It is not just his scoring output or his ability to find his teammates for good looks; he is also quite the defender.

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Collier is becoming more and more of a polished all-around basketball player. Any team, regardless of how deep the rotation is, can use a guy like Collier. He is proving to be extremely valuable for this team moving forward.

The Jazz are not looking to win games this season, even after the trade for star forward Jaren Jackson Jr. and ascending young players. This team wants a shot at a top pick in the upcoming draft. This upcoming class is full of stars. Yet when you are not trying to win, it is important to allow your young guys an opportunity to develop and see which players will be building blocks for the future.

Now, after his recent great production in his starts, Collier is proving to be one of the pieces for the Utah Jazz moving forward. He is now averaging 10 points, 7.1 assists per contest, and shooting 50% from the field. He may not likely be a starting player for the Jazz when this lineup is ready to contend, but he has definitely shown he will be a key contributor in the rotation. Heck, he has shown he can be a player that steps up when stars go down with injury.

The Utah Jazz are building some special, and part of that is because of how great the former USC Trojan Isaiah Collier has been this season. The Jazz may not get any real success this season, but the next season should be one in which conversations about the Jazz look very different.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Isaiah Collier is enhancing USC basketball brand in NBA with Jazz