Former Gonzaga forward Zach Collins embracing new teammates, goals entering fourth season with San Antonio Spurs

LAS VEGAS – During his sixth NBA season, Zach Collins dealt with an ankle injury that sidelined him for games in December and January, then suffered a torn right labrum in the third quarter of a regular-season finale against the Detroit Pistons, roughly 20 minutes before the San Antonio Spurs were scheduled to begin their offseason.

Still, in the context of Collins’ career, the 2023-24 campaign may have been one of the cleanest.

“I felt great,” the former Gonzaga standout told The Spokesman-Review in July while taking in San Antonio’s NBA Summer League game against Atlanta with parents Michael and Heather. “I had a bad little sprained ankle, but besides that I felt great. Just want to build on that.”

The injury setbacks have been much worse and the time away from the court much longer for Collins, who played in 69 games – the second-most of his career – and made a career-high 29 starts while averaging 22.1 minutes per game for San Antonio.

Collins’ ankle injury amounted to a small blip in the grand scheme of things and the late-season labrum injury came at the best possible time, considering the 22-win Spurs weren’t in the playoff chase and the forward would be able to undergo offseason surgery without missing any time.

It wasn’t a perfect year by any stretch, but Collins, who averaged double figures (11.2 points per game) for only the second time in his career, is more inclined to focus on the highlights from last season, as well as the ones that could lie ahead for a San Antonio team that’s shifted its goals in 2024-25.

“I know a goal of our team this year is to start winning more games,” Collins said. “I think the guys we brought in are going to help us a lot. Seems to be a little bit of rejuvenation and energy.”

San Antonio’s offseason moves speak measures to the team’s ambitions, especially coming off a season that saw the Spurs finish just 22-60, just one game back of the last-place Portland Trail Blazers.

To complement former No. 1 pick and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs made two additions in particular that should help the team push for a playoff berth, potentially giving Collins a chance to return to the postseason for the first time since his Trail Blazers were swept by the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 Western Conference Finals.

Chris Paul, the 39-year-old future Hall of Fame point guard, joined the Spurs in free agency, as did veteran forward Harrison Barnes, who’s averaged 16 points per game the last nine seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings.

Forecasting what he expects it’ll be like to play alongside a premier set-up man like Paul, Collins said, “I’ll tell you what, it’s kind of hard to explain literally but it’s just kind of a feeling when you’re out there as a team.”

He added: “When things are going bad, when things are going good he’s a floor general that calms everybody down and keep everybody here. So that along with his passing ability – I know how smart he is, he’s going to learn where everybody likes to be super fast. So that’s going to help us get easier shots.”

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich experimented with a Collins-Wembanyama frontcourt early in the season, but abandoned it midway through the year and mostly brought the former GU player off the bench during the final four months.

“I wish we could’ve played more,” Collins said. “We started off the season neither of us shooting well, so we had to change that up. Then toward the end of the year there was little pockets where got to be on the court together again. I felt way more comfortable and he did in those small pockets and we had those conversations about where you should be. He’s a fun guy to play with, he’s a team player, so I hope we get more time on the court again.”

The friendship he forged with his new frontcourt mate put Collins in a tricky position ahead of the Summer Olympics, anticipating a potential matchup between his Wembanyama’s France team and his former Gonzaga coach, Mark Few, an assistant for the United States.

“I hope Victor dominates everybody except the USA team,” said Collins, who got his wish in the gold-medal game, where the U.S. absorbed a 26-point outing from Wembanyama to defeat the Olympic hosts.

Prior to the Olympics, Collins said he would’ve helped Few out with the Wembanyama assignment were his college to ask.

“If he asks, I got him,” Collins said. “Victor’s so good it won’t matter.”

Collins still checks in with Few, talks frequently with lead assistant Brian Michaelson, keeps up with other members of GU’s 2016-17 national runner-up team and is usually able to attend the NBA Zag dinner held in his hometown of Vegas every year during Summer League.

“I’m from Vegas so I have the benefit of just being here,” he said. “So any time they tell me the dinner’s happening, I can make it. It’s awesome, man. I owe so much to the program for my success and just getting to the NBA, being a lottery pick. My development as a person and player. So, for them to hit me up every summer because they want me to come back and hang out with everybody, it means a lot.”