Free agents for the Chicago Bulls to appease Zach LaVine: Zach Collins
It wouldn’t necessarily be the biggest splash that the Bulls could make if they went out and signed the impending restricted free agent and Portland Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins this summer. What it would show for LaVine and the Bulls is the willingness to continually build up this core for success over the long haul.
Signing impending restricted free agents such as Lonzo and/or Collins gives the current Bulls core at hand more longevity. Lonzo is still yet to hit his 24th birthday, and Collins is also still just 23 years of age. The Las Vegas, NV, native and former Gonzaga Bulldogs big man Collins would be a valued free agent signing for the Bulls if he’s able to stay healthy moving forward.
That really is the biggest problem with the idea of pursuing Collins. He was productive for the Blazers and showed a lot of flashes when healthy in the past couple of seasons.
But Collins missed a good portion of last season and the entirety of the 2020-21 regular season. This would be a sizable risk for the Bulls to go out and sign someone like Collins. It could be worth the reward, though, if Collins was able to stay more consistently healthy coming off of his second ankle surgery during this season.
The price tag to sign Collins could be pretty low this summer if the Blazers aren’t planning on trying to bring him back ahead of next season. And with all of the change that the Blazers are currently going through, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see them let Collins walk without a fight next month.