Regardless of what the Chicago Bulls front office maintains, trading Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings was more about getting rid of an oft-injured, one-dimensional, overpaid player than it was what the franchise got in return.
Landing Tre Jones and Zach Collins from the San Antonio Spurs and Kevin Huerter from the Kings was uninspiring, to put it nicely. Reacquiring a first-round pick sent to San Antonio in 2021's DeMar DeRozan deal was the highlight of Chicago's return package. Jones, Collins and Huerter weren't much more than the salaries needed to match the wildly expensive LaVine's.
But Jones has turned out to be a critical rotation piece for head coach Billy Donovan, especially with Ayo Dosunmu out for the season and Lonzo Ball on the shelf. Huerter hasn't improved much on what's been his least efficient NBA season, but he's averaging over 25 minutes per game since landing in Chicago.
So what could—or, rather, should—have become a post-trade deadline tank sans LaVine has developed into another Play-In Tournament run for the Bulls.
Jones, and to a point Huerter, have played a part in that; but it's Collins' partnership with Josh Giddey that's proving to be the catalyst of another postseason push.
Josh Giddey-Zach Collins duo now critical to Bulls' success
Collins played his first game in a Bulls uniform on Feb. 11. In the 10 games since, he's started seven and averaged 12.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists on 54.8 percent shooting in 25.2 minutes per night.
Giddey has continued his second half surge, posting averages of 20.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 7.9 assists on 51/54/84 shooting splits over that same 10-game span.
The two are one of Chicago's most productive duos when they share the floor.
Since Feb. 11, Giddey and Collins have played 166 minutes together, fifth most of any two-player lineup the Bulls have used, per NBA.com. Their offensive rating of 122.9 and defensive rating of 106.5 are both the best of any pair that's played at least 135 minutes. Their net rating of 16.4 is second best of any pair with the same qualifications. (Oddly, the Giddey-Huerter combination is the only one to rate higher than Giddey and Collins.)
Nikola Vucevic has missed the Bulls' last five games with a calf injury. Jalen Smith missed time with a concussion. Collins was forced into the starting lineup before Donovan was ready to give him that designation.
At this point, though, putting him back on the bench wouldn't make any sense. Considering how he's played since joining the Bulls and how well he's paired with Giddey, it would be wise for Donovan to roll with the two as long as they're producing.