Friday, Brett Siegel of Clutch Points reported: “the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs are two prominent teams frequently mentioned among league circles as suitors for [John] Collins”.
Some late-night free agency intel for everyone heading into the weekend on @ClutchPoints:
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) June 27, 2026
Latest on the Warriors, Jalen Duren/Pistons, Knicks, Lakers, the MLE free agent market, Jaylen Brown & Kawhi Leonard trade talks, and much more: https://t.co/Zh0invE75d
Unrestricted free agent forward John Collins would strike a peculiar chord as another Bulls front-court roster addition. At 6’9” and 226 pounds, Collins looks the part of the prototypical NBA player that Bulls lead front office executive Bryson Graham covets. Yet, Collins has little to offer an NBA team beyond serviceable scoring with a career 15.7 points per game average.
Despite his profile, Collins offers modest contributions in the rim protection department as a power forward, with a career average of 1.0 blocks per game in his nine-year NBA career. Going back to his scoring, it’s also worth noting that adding Collins to the Bulls roster would represent the addition of another player who’s not recognized as a credible, volume three-point shooter.
Hopefully, this report is customary free agency PR because with Collins currently projecting a $39.9 million cap hold according to Spotrac, there are better spending alternatives for the Bulls’ $30.9 million in cap space according to Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron.
The Bulls will use $23.1 million of their cap space to acquire Nic Claxton.
— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) June 23, 2026
They go from from $54 million in cap space to $30.9 million in room remaining.
They would still have the $9.4 million room mid-level to use after.
Great business getting him essentially for free. pic.twitter.com/IOgBUIOril
Weighing better options than John Collins
To state the obvious, the Bulls can roster some much-needed shooting with their 30 big ones in cap space. If the Bulls feel strongly that another power forward must be acquired, a likely, more cost-effective option the Bulls should consider is unrestricted free agent power forward Rui Hachimura.
Hachimura finished his three-year $51 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers when the 2025-26 NBA season concluded and projects a $27.4 million cap hold according to Spotrac. Offensive Hachimura and Collins are similar styles of front-court players: scorers who you ideally want to be neutral help defenders.
Perhaps the Bulls consider another Tiago Splitter-coached center reunion by signing Splitter’s former Portland Trail Blazers big, Robert Williams III. For a new Bulls front office regime, in Graham’s front office that is strident about building a roster around defense, while also discerning about second-round draft talent, the logic of signing John Collins is fuzzy at best.
It is refreshing to see a Bulls front office return to emphasizing defense as a roster identity, and at the same time, the hope for fans is that there is consistency in the roster moves behind this identity. Otherwise, Bryson Graham may quickly lose the ear of eager Bulls fans wanting a Bulls front office they believe can build a winner in Chicago.
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