John Collins, Pistons Reportedly Agree to Contract, Updated Salary Cap for NBA Free Agency

Veteran forward John Collins is moving on to his fourth team after agreeing to a three-year, $51 million contract with the Detroit Pistons, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press reported the last two years of Collins' contract are non-guaranteed.

The 2025-26 season was more of the same from the 28-year-old in multiple ways.

Collins averaged 13.6 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 55.2 percent overall and 40.6 percent from beyond the arc. All in all, he was a solid role player, albeit one who was a little overpaid with a $26.6 million salary.

With the Clippers still trying to right the ship following a 6-21 start, Collins was also mentioned as a hypothetical trade chip if the front office wanted to be aggressive.

L.A. obviously kept the 2017-18 All-Rookie honoree through the trade deadline, and he helped the team finish ninth in the Western Conference and qualify for the play-in tournament, where it lost to the Golden State Warriors.

While the outcome broadly left something to be desired, simply finishing with a winning record (42-40) was impressive given how deep a hole the Clippers had dug for themselves.

Once the campaign ended, Collins was noncommittal about his future. He offered the usual remarks you hear from an impending free agent. He was happy to stay with his current team but wasn't assuming anything.

In general, Collins is a victim of his early success in the NBA. He averaged a double-double (21.6 points and 10.1 rebounds) in his third season with the Atlanta Hawks, which raised the bar for what was expected of him moving forward.

A breakthrough never arrived, and Collins' production started to taper off once Atlanta pivoted from rebuilding to contending.

After years of rumors, the Hawks finally traded him during the 2023 offseason, and their return (Rudy Gay and a future second-round pick) reflected how far his value had fallen.

This summer was going to provide another straightforward indicator of how teams around the league gauge Collins' game.

In a way, he might benefit from no longer having to justify being a player who signed a $125 million contract and was slotted in as a building block for a franchise on the rise.

Assuming Collins' performance on the court is once again in line with his career averages, he'll be judged more favorably on a salary in line with his numbers.