10:35pm: The Spurs have confirmed the extension through a press statement.
12:09pm: The Spurs and big man Zach Collins have agreed to a two-year contract extension that will be worth $35MM, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The deal is fully guaranteed, with no second-year player or team option, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
Collins, who will turn 26 next month, is coming off his healthiest season in four years. Appearing in 63 games (26 starts) for San Antonio in 2022/23, he averaged 11.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 22.9 minutes per game, posting a solid shooting line of .518/.374/.761.
The 10th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Collins flashed some promise early in his career in Portland, but saw his career derailed by ankle injuries, which limited him to 11 games in 2019/20 and sidelined him for the entire ’20/21 season.
When Collins signed with the Spurs as a free agent in 2021, he received a three-year, $22MM contract, but it was only fully guaranteed for one full season, with a partial guarantee in year two and a non-guaranteed third year. The former Gonzaga standout only played in 28 games in his first season in San Antonio, but ’22/23 was the best season of his career, putting him in position to become part of the team’s future beyond his current contract.
Collins projects to be part of the Spurs’ starting lineup alongside Victor Wembanyama this fall, as the club looks to reduce the wear and tear on its prized rookie by having him play at power forward instead of center.
As Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype observes (via Twitter), San Antonio initially projected to have upwards of $60MM in cap room in the summer of 2024, but have now dedicated more than half that space to new contracts for Collins and Devin Vassell, who signed a five-year, $135MM rookie scale extension earlier this month.
The exact terms of Collins’ extension aren’t yet known, but it sounds like the Spurs will give him the maximum possible veteran extension for a player earning less than the NBA’s estimated average salary ($11,958,000). The veteran center is eligible to receive a starting salary worth 40% of that figure in his new deal, with an 8% raise in year two — those terms would put him in line to earn approximately $34.82MM on the extension after making $7.7MM in 2023/24.
Collins’ extension will make him ineligible to be traded for six months, Gozlan notes, so the Spurs won’t be able to move him until the 2024 offseason.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Bobby Marks suggested on the latest episode of The Lowe Post podcast that a deal for Collins could be imminent. Lowe advised keeping an eye on the Spurs center as a potential veteran extension candidate, and Marks responded by saying he had heard that rumor “multiple times.”
This is a great deal!!!! He’s a very solid Center. Then he’s perfect to have next to Victor Wembanyama. You don’t want Victor Wembanyama banging against the Centers.
Collins gets hurt a lot, need a strong backup.
Charles Bassey is a good backup already. Just needs more opportunity to show what he can do.
Agreed, Bassey and Collins are completely different players, but Charles could handle a good amount of minutes and bring rebounding and energy to the team.
Agreed. Loved what he did at Gonzaga. Almost single handedly beat UNC, before the refs took in out. I still claim that game was fixed. Zach is what you want from a modern NBA big – strong on DRB%, capable 3pt shooter, and, most importantly, he can pass.
“I still clam that game was fixed.”
And people still laugh at you.
That’s a lot of money for Zach Collins, but I guess that salary will make for a nice trade piece once Wemby is ready to take over at center.
Not by today’s standards – it’s a great deal for Spurs
Eh, I know the cap is going up but when you see that Jock Landale and Mo Wagner got $8m then Drew Eubanks, Thomas Bryant, and Christian Wood all got the minimum, it doesn’t look as good. Obviously other factors at play with Wood and Collins is probably better than the other guys, but $9m better? Especially given his injury history?
Best case scenario yes
The Spurs only had 70 million on the books for next season, and that’s if they kept Graham’s full guarantee. Smart move by the Spurs to fill out cap by extending a decent guy already on the roster, rather than spending 80 mil on a Dillon Brooks or Fred VanVleet-type of free agent.
Collins is a solid combo-big with some versatility and shooting touch. Solid to keep on the roster or trade in the second season if needed.
Ah, Vassel’s contract wasn’t added yet. So it’s more like 90-100 million. Still a good move.
Spending 17.5 mil on Collins, who’s not good, is a good move, but spending 20 mil on Brooks is a bad one… you are clearly a water head
I don’t have an issue with 20 mil on Brooks by itself. He’s a quality defender. But 80 over four years? Nah. Shorter term, I’d be fine with.
There’s not a GM in the league that would trade Collins for Brooks even up. Brooks is with the only team that would want him in their locker room.
If Collins had played a second year in college – before the injuries – he would have been the number 1 or 2 pick. He’s not that player now, but he will contribute more than Brooks.
FVV would’ve been perfect for the Spurs. They need a point guard, they need veteran leadership, they need experience and instead they have Sochan running the point and gave all their money away to Vassell and Collins….
None of this is close to correct. Still have cap room and a bunch of draft picks coming. FVV is solid but you don’t make that signing until you are ready to compete and that’s a year or two away.
I’ve also started warming up towards ZC. He’s a spurs guy fosho… Great at punishing defensive mistakes such as leaving him open on 3 or guarding him with a weaker guy down low!
This guy would’ve been on 10 day contracts from 2 teams, and not signed after the 10 days.
Another overpay. I wish I was good at dribbling a basketball
Bench players getting paid so good while the legends of before got peanuts