Zach Collins is unlikely to make his debut with the San Antonio Spurs until after Christmas.

"It’s still going to take a while," Gregg Popovich said. "After Christmas, for sure."

Collins has begun to return to the court with light individual activities. Collins had his third ankle surgery in 10 months in June.

The Spurs signed Collins to a three-year, $22 million deal in the offseason. 

Gregg Popovich is the NBA's highest paid head coach with a salary of approximately $11.5 million per year.

Steve Kerr ranks second at $9.5 million per year, followed by Erik Spoelstra and Doc Rivers at $8.5 million apiece. 

Career assistants getting their first head coaching jobs can expect contracts in the $2.5 million to $3.5 million-a-year range.

The highest-paid coach in U.S. Sports is Bill Belichick, who earns $18 million per year. 

DeMar DeRozan's agent, Aaron Goodwin, worked on a sign-and-trade for his client to end up with the Los Angeles Lakers last offseason. The plans, however, were derailed when the Lakers instead acquired Russell Westbrook on a draft day trade.

DeRozan instead went to the Chicago Bulls on a sign-and-trade.

“I felt like going to the Lakers was a done deal and that we were going to figure it out. I was going to come home,” DeRozan told Yahoo Sports. “The business side of things just didn’t work out. A couple of things didn’t align. It didn’t work out. It’s just part of the business, part of the game. My next option was definitely Chicago. So, looking back at it, it worked out well.

“But there’s always motivation. It may be just to come home and play in front of friends and family, competing against teams you grew up watching. There are all sorts of motivations that you carry and you try to channel that energy into the game. I find that in every game, but definitely coming back to your hometown, you want to play well and you have that motivation to put on a great show.”

The Los Angeles Clippers were also interested in DeRozan, but lacked the ability to realistically acquire him.

“They didn’t have much, but it was a conversation that was brought up and it didn’t get as far as the Lakers’ situation,” DeRozan told Yahoo Sports. “Both L.A. teams were definitely a big possibility for me.”

San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson, and his brother Kaleb, are now represented by Klutch Sports. Keldon Johnson is in his third season with San Antonio. Kaleb Johnson is in his second season with the Austin Spurs of the G League.

After playing sparingly as a rookie, Keldon Johnson had a breakout sophomore season in 2020-21. He started in 67 of 69 games for the Spurs. Johnson averaged 12.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game that season. In his third year, Johnson has been even better. He's upped his scoring to 16.1 points per game, while improving as a three-point shooter.

Johnson will be eligible for a rookie scale contract extension in July. San Antonio has done well locking up players to long-term deals in the past. Now, the Spurs will have to negotiate with a new agency for Johnson.

Jakob Poeltl has entered the NBA's Health and Safety protocols for COVID-19 and is expected to miss several games.

Poeltl is averaging 13.9 points and 9.7 rebounds for the San Antonio Spurs this season.