Restricted free agents worth spending lavishly on for the Chicago Bulls: Zach Collins
A looming restricted free agent that feels like he could have a legitimate shot of landing with the Bulls this offseason is the Portland Trail Blazers 6-foot-11 and 250-pound big man Zach Collins. The former Gonzaga Bulldogs lottery draft pick and 23-year-old Las Vegas, NV, native was solid for the Trail Blazers when healthy the past few seasons.
That is the exact problem, though, for Collins of late with the Blazers. He wasn’t able to remain consistently healthy for now-former head coach Terry Stotts at all in each of the past two seasons. In fact, Collins missed the entirety of this season thanks to an unfortunate ankle fracture he suffered more than six months ago.
Given that Markkanen could be handed a bag this summer by another pursuing team, like the San Antonio Spurs or Dallas Mavericks, Collins could be an appealing target to Karnisovas and the Bulls. When healthy, he’s a solid two-way big man that can hit the glass hard, shoot it well from deep for a power forward, and he doesn’t turn the ball over much at all.
The price range that should be considered realistic for the Bulls to look at Collins for this offseason should be around $7-$9 million. That is a pretty lofty price tag for Collins to command given that he didn’t play at all this season in any meaningful game action, and he has only started in 11 games since the start of the 2019-20 regular season.
Chicago might also be able to take advantage of some turmoil unveiling in Portland right now in the wake of the firing of their former head coach Stotts, and get Collins at a premium in a sign-and-trade deal.