Who the Chicago Bulls should’ve pursued instead of DeMar DeRozan: John Collins
About the best restricted free agent that was seriously made available this summer is the Hawks rising star power forward and former Wake Forest Demon Deacon John Collins. Since contract talks have yet to work out well between the Hawks and Collins, the Bulls jumping into the mix could’ve made sense given the need in the frontcourt.
It’s hard to imagine a better fit among the current free agents available at the four next to Vooch for the Bulls than Collins. He could do a lot of things well, and really doesn’t do anything poorly. Collins is very adept at spacing the floor, crashing the rim, and is an underrated defender.
And while Collins is still available since the Hawks haven’t made contract talks work out with him as of yet, the Bulls wouldn’t be able to afford him at this point. With all of the movement that Karnisovas and the Bulls were able to get done this week to land Lonzo from the Pelicans and DeRozan from the Spurs, they could’ve make something work to sign Collins if he was willing to come to Chicago.
It was at least worth a shot for the Bulls to go after Collins, but that is a moot point now. And the long-term fit with Collins and the Bulls could’ve been more potent than with the 31-year-old DeRozan.
DeRozan played most of his minutes last season for legendary head coach Gregg Popovich and the Spurs at the four, and that might be the case next season with the Bulls. But it’s hard to argue that Collins would not be a better fit at the four in the near-term and over the long haul than DeRozan.