Zach Collins’ three year Spurs contract is only partially guaranteed

One of the more surprising free agent moves this offseason was the Spurs signing big man Zach Collins to a three-year, $22 million contract.

Some fans were skeptical of the deal, especially since Collins has only played in 11 games over the past two seasons due to multiple ankle injuries. Fortunately, his salary structure reveals that the contract is a lot less risky than it initially seemed due to the large portion of non-guaranteed money.

Collins will be paid a fully guaranteed $7 million salary in his first season before potentially making $7.35 million in year 2 and $7.7 million in year 3. However, his second season is only 50% guaranteed, while his final year is non-guaranteed, meaning he’ll only be paid a total of $10.675 million in guaranteed money.

In other words, if his injury troubles continue, the Spurs could decide to waive him early and pay less than half of his $22 million deal. For a promising player whose future is as uncertain as Collins, this seems like a low-risk, high reward signing that could pay dividends if everything goes smoothly.