Portland Trail Blazers: Zach Collins signs with the San Antonio Spurs

Portland Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins has signed with the San Antonio Spurs on a three-year $22 million deal.

ESPN’s NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski had the news, coming through Collins’ agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports.

When Collins had his qualifying offer pulled by the Blazers before free agency, it meant he was an unrestricted free agent rather than restricted, and basically gone from Portland. Though it wasn’t a surprise to see Zach sign elsewhere, it’s still disappointing from a fan perspective to see Collins sign a contract with another team after investing a top pick and four years in him.

Collins was drafted with the 10th pick in 2018, but because of his injuries in the last two years, he only played 20 odd games in these two seasons. At the start of his third year, he dislocated his shoulder in the first month of the season, before coming back from that injury at the end of the season and re-injuring his foot again in the NBA Bubble.

He then sadly re-broke his foot last season, but a third and more successful surgery in the last few months meant he was back on the free-agent board as a guy who after rehab could still play a role on an NBA team.

In his four years with the Blazers, he played 154 games and averaged 5.7 points and 4.0 rebounds on 44 percent from the field.

The Blazers will now have to look at signing a backup big man with their TaxPayer exception, or on the veterans minimum.

We wish Zach all the best as he signs with a great organization in the Spurs.