The Los Angeles Clippers looked dead in the water early this season, with Kawhi Leonard battling injuries again and the team struggling to secure any wins, sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. However, a flip has seemed to have been switched with the Clippers, opening up the 2026 calendar year with a win.

Matching up against the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, the Clippers took advantage of a Jazz team without their top two scorers, Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen, en route to a 118-101 victory. It was yet another stellar performance from Kawhi Leonard, scoring 45 points in the win, but one player has remained a consistent presence for the Clippers on this winning streak and beyond.

Perhaps the most notable of the offseason acquisitions, many fans expected the Clippers to insert John Collins into the starting lineup at the beginning of the season, especially after the season he had in Utah the year prior. However, Collins started the year on the bench in his first nine games, but has had a much bigger impact since joining the starting lineup.

While Collins' counting stats have regressed, a part of it has to do with his usage percentage dropping more than four points. However, he's increased his offensive rating and improved his defensive rating, as well as going from a negative to a positive on his plus-minus. After the team's win over the Jazz, James Harden had some words for his teammate.

"I think just finding a way to win. He does whatever the team needs at that moment. Sometimes he's scoring the basketball, sometimes he's rebounding the basketball, sometimes he's doing other things like getting deflections, which allows our team to get out in transition. That goes for everybody, we finding ways to win the game," Harden said.

In his last four games (missed the December 28th win over Detroit), Collins is averaging 13.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and 1.3 steals while shooting 66.7% from the field and 69.2% from beyond the arc. With all the gravity that players like Harden and Leonard draw, it opens up Collins to get easy looks on the perimeter and inside.

Collins has had a wild ride in his career so far, averaging 21.6 points and 10.1 rebounds in his third season in the NBA, to essentially being phased out of the offense in Atlanta before going to the Jazz. Collins is now in the final year of his five-year, $125 million contract, and could look to stay in LA long-term if this is a fit he feels is right for him and his career.