9:56 pm: Collins’ two-year extension is official, the Bulls have confirmed (Twitter link).
9:38 pm: Bulls big man Zach Collins has agreed to a two-year, $17MM contract extension, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter links). Collins’ representative, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, and Chicago’s new front office hammered out the details over the last few days in order to keep Collins off the free agent market.
The second year of the contract includes a team option, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network tweets.
Collins had a rather disappointing 2025/26 season due to a persistent toe injury. He was shut down shortly after the All-Star break after his right toe sprain failed to heal. Training and medical professionals decided that Collins, who didn’t play after Dec. 27, needed surgery to fix the problem.
Prior to that injury, Collins missed the first six weeks of the season with a wrist ailment. He wound up appearing in just 10 games this past season, averaging 9.7 points and 5.6 rebounds. The veteran forward/center appeared in a total of 64 games with San Antonio and Chicago in 2024/25.
Collins signed a two-year, $34.8MM extension with San Antonio during the fall of 2023, so he’ll be taking a pay cut to stay with his current club. He projects to back up Nic Claxton, who is heading to Chicago via a trade with Brooklyn, and lottery pick Caleb Wilson at the four and five spots.
Collins, who began his career in Portland in 2017, has appeared in 388 career games, averaging 8.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per contest.
It sounds like the plan is for Collins to officially sign an extension before the end of the day rather than finalizing a new deal in July as a free agent. That will likely ensure he remains trade-eligible all offseason, though the move will eat into Chicago’s cap space. Spotrac contributor Keith Smith projects that the Bulls have $23.7MM in remaining room (Twitter link).
