Collins' failures in Washington are noted, but those teams were doomed from the get-go. In the '01-'02 season, Collins had an almost 40 year old Jordan as his leading scorer with a young Rip Hamilton carrying the load as well. Outside of that, the team was irrelevent. Popeye Jones lead the Wiz in rebounding while Chris Whitney lead them in assists. The following season was a dissapointment as well; however, had Jordan drafted Paul Gasol or Ty Chandler instead of Kwame the year before, COllins may still have been coaching the Wiz to this day.
Jordan also turned down Elton Brand for that Kwame pick. The Wiz wanted Jamal Crawford to be included too. The Bulls passed and the Wiz felt Elton Brand wasn't enough for Kwame. lol. Sort of like when Ainge turned down the Pierce for Chris Paul trade b/c Portland wouldn't throw in Travis Outlaw. The Wiz did a pretty good job recovering from Jordan's mistakes. They were able to get aron Butler for Kwame and after Jordan foolishky traded Rip for Stackhouse, the Wiz were able to turn Stackhouse (and a pick) into Jamison.
I do wonder how a Jordan/Rip/Brand team would have fared. Could of made Jordan's legacy even more remarkable.
Regarding Collins, I don't know why he's well respected as a coach. He's coached three teams and hasn't won with any of them (and two of them had the greatest player of all time). The Bulls got better after he left and won championships. The Pistons got better after he left and won championships. And the Wiz got better too.