Bulls Beat Jazz, Serve As Cautionary Tale For Rebuilding
Mar 17, 2025, 11:16 PM | Updated: 11:29 pm
Coby White #0 of the Chicago Bulls reacts against the Utah Jazz (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz dropped their 10th straight game, falling to the Chicago Bulls 111-97.
Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen each had 16 points to lead the Jazz, though Markkanen didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
Game Blog: Bulls Hand Jazz 10th Straight Loss
Bulls As A Cautionary Tale
Though the Bulls beat the Jazz on Monday night, they should serve as a cautionary tale for the dangers of rebuilding, and how easily teams can fall into an endless cycle of mediocrity.
First and foremost the Bulls have simply had too few draft picks in recent years to climb out of their rebuild.
Since 2020, the Bulls have made five total draft picks, and only four of them have taken the floor.
Feels like the Bulls have been rebuilding for 8 seasons and this roster makes no sense.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) March 18, 2025
The draft isn’t an exact science, and with that in mind, the more opportunities a team has to add young, inexpensive players, the better.
Due to previous trades for win-now players, the draft cupboards were left bare in Chicago, and it’s slowed significantly slowed their rebuild.
While the Jazz have yet to find a clear home run player in the draft since beginning the rebuild in 2022, they’ve brought in eight different rookies between Ochai Agbaji, Walker Kessler, Taylor Hendricks, Brice Sensabaugh, Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier, and Kyle Filipowski.
And, the Jazz have six more first-round picks over the next three years.
Not all of these players will pan out in Utah, but the odds are in the Jazz’s favor that at least a few of them will stick.
Speaking of draft picks, with so few selections, the Bulls’ hit rate hasn’t been good enough.
Between 2018 and 2020, the Bulls had three picks in the top seven of the draft. They walked away with Wendell Carter, Coby White, and Patrick Williams.
Carter was traded to the Orlando Magic for Nikola Vucevic without ever making a significant impact on the team.
Coby White is a clear success story, and the best player on Chicago’s roster, while Williams, the fourth overall pick in 2020 has been a bust.
Connecting on only one top-seven pick in three chances has left the Bulls without a clear identity, and they’re still paying for sins they committed a half-decade ago.
Regarding Williams, the Bulls also committed money to the wrong player.
The former lottery pick signed a five-year, $90 million extension last summer, including a player option in 2028-29, despite career averages of 9.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.
While missing on draft picks hurts, doubling down on those players is equally harmful, and the Bulls appear tied to Williams well beyond his usefulness.
Finally, regarding the lone success of Chicago’s rebuild, they were wise to be patient with White.
Through his first four seasons, White’s production was underwhelming, averaging 12.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists.
Coby White and-1 😤 pic.twitter.com/li7ukmPGTj
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) March 18, 2025
Unlike Williams, the Bulls resigned White to a reasonable three-year, $36 million deal, and the guard has developed into a borderline star over the last two seasons.
White is averaging 19.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.8 assists over his last two seasons, and along with rookie Matas Buzelis, are the only two real bright spots on the roster.
While the jury is still out on most of the young players on the Jazz roster, it’s important to remember that developmental timelines vary widely.
Just because the Jazz’s current youth movement doesn’t have a clear-cut star today, it doesn’t mean none of the players could make this jump with a long-term, albeit reasonable contract extension.
Ultimately, the Jazz are far better set up to climb out of their rebuild than the Bulls have been over the last five seasons, but avoiding the same landmines that have undone Chicago is critical.
What Are Jazz Thoughts On Alex Jensen Getting Utes Job?
Prior to tip-off against the Bulls, Alex Jensen was officially introduced as the new head coach of the University of Utah men’s basketball program.
The longtime NBA assistant worked in Utah as a member of the Jazz’s staff under both Quin Snyder and Will Hardy before spending two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.
After Monday’s game, members of the Jazz organization offered their thoughts on Jensen’s hiring.
“I’m very happy for AJ, he’s a heck of a basketball mind, and he’s got a great demeanor,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “He understands how to communicate with this generation of player.”
Alex Jensen didn’t go into too much detail about things, but his comments give us an idea of what to expect from him and Utah basketball moving forward. https://t.co/8UI22pAYOC
— Steve Bartle (@BartleKSLsports) March 18, 2025
Jordan Clarkson worked with Jensen more than any current member of the Jazz having joined the team in 2019, and reached out to the former Ute after learning he’d gotten the job.
“I think it’s big time, I think he’s ready for that position,” Clarkson said. “I know he’s been around the league for a while. He’s got ties here, so it’s exciting to see him get that job and I already texted him congrats.”
Walker Kessler also worked with Jensen as a rookie, and shared a favorite memory from their time together.
“His humor was so dry and he would just say stuff and he wouldn’t laugh, but it was, it would be so funny,” Kessler said. “We had a starting lineup with me, Lauri, and Kelly [Olynyk], and he called Tres Leches. So he’s a great dude, I’m super happy for him.”
Jensen plans to finish the season with the Mavericks before transitioning full-time to the Utes.
Next Utah Jazz Broadcast
The Jazz will host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on KJZZ, streamed on Jazz+, and heard on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone.
Are you on Threads yet? Let’s connect, give us a follow @kslsports.
Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.
