Zach Collins is back, but Chicago’s frontcourt is still undermanned. With the starting center sidelined and the returning backup limited to 12-16 minutes nightly, the Bulls face a significant interior depth problem from the jump.
Zach Collins returned to action Wednesday after missing the entire preseason with a quad injury, but his debut against Toronto brought little comfort. Collins appeared in just nine minutes and registered no points, though he pulled down five rebounds and helped Chicago outscore the Raptors by seven during his stint on the floor. The bigger issue: he’ll remain on a strict minutes cap as the team inches him back into live action.
Head coach Tiago Splitter outlined the cautious approach bluntly: “He didn’t play yet. He didn’t play much last year, so we slowly want to put him there in the rotation and see those combinations, playing double-big or not.” The rebuilding Bulls are sandwiched between two undesirable realities—Collins carries injury risk and limited recent game action, while starting center Nic Claxton is unavailable to open the regular season. That tandem absence leaves Chicago scrambling for interior presence against teams with traditional frontcourt depth.
The larger problem: how much can a rebuild afford to lose at center?
Collins’ return-to-play plan isn’t unusual for a player recovering from lower-body injury, but timing matters. Chicago’s offense already showed inefficiency in a 135-92 loss to Toronto—the squad recorded a historically poor shooting night and appeared disorganized defensively. Adding frontcourt depth instability compounds those issues. Splitter wants to “see different combinations,” which is code for: we’re experimenting because we don’t have a reliable plan yet.
The Raptors game exposed another emerging concern: Josh Giddey revealed he’s carrying a left wrist injury that will require management throughout the season, per The Athletic. Giddey wasn’t listed on Chicago’s injury report pre-game, but the revelation adds another layer of uncertainty around the roster’s health. For a team tasked with establishing chemistry and building around a young core, losing bodies to injury restriction—even part-time—derails continuity.
Collins, at his peak, provides legitimate rim protection and floor-spacing potential. But the math here is simple: if he’s capped at 16 minutes nightly and Claxton is out, Chicago has roughly 48 minutes of proven center production per game, leaving massive gaps for fill-in players. That’s not a sustainable recipe for competitive stretches during the grind of an 82-game season.
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