Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. will eat up just over $96 million of the Jazz’s salary next season.
Fortunately for the Jazz, the rest of the roster is on the cheap, including second-team all-rookie standout Ace Bailey.
Even holding the No. 2 overall draft pick in a few weeks, Utah finds itself in a salary cap comfort zone with just over $138 million in guaranteed money for next season.
That’s why the game of chicken between the franchise and center Walker Kessler has begun, and why the Bulls should be watching with great interest.
Kessler is a restricted free agent, which means if any team offers the 7-2, 24-year-old a contract, the Jazz have final say on matching or allowing him to walk. The latest reports have the team valuing him as a $25-$30 million a year player — especially coming off season-ending shoulder surgery this past season — but Kessler’s camp obviously feels like his value is much more.
Here’s where the Bulls could come in.
First of all, it would be predicated on what comes out of the draft. If the Bulls land Caleb Wilson No. 4 and then grab a big such as Jayden Quaintance or an Aday Mara if he should somehow fall, bets off. The Bulls should also not be in the market of spending $25-million-a-year-plus for any free agent this offseason. That’s not where they are in the rebuild.
However, if the Jazz are sitting and letting the market dictate Kessler’s going rate and the Bulls need a rim-protecting center, go ahead and set the price at $20 million per and see what happens. No team has the cap space Bulls vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham has this summer, and while he wants to build this franchise by avoiding shortcuts, the new tanking rules make it so finishing bottom three is a massive penalty.
That’s the tightrope that has to be walked.
The Bulls are in an obvious rebuild but are better off using the money to make sure they finish no worse than fourth from the basement. Kessler has the potential to help that process for what could be a center-starved roster.
Restricted free agent Jalen Duren is -going to be too expensive, Mark Williams too fragile. Sure, the Bulls could re-up Zach Collins for a few seasons, and while he adds physicality in the paint, he’s not a true rim protector. There is a huge hole in the middle for the Bulls and it will be interesting to see how Graham chooses to fill it.
Centers breakdown
WHAT THE BULLS HAVE: Collins, Nick Richards, Lachlan Olbrich
WHO COULD BE ON THE MOVE: Collins insisted to the media in April that he wanted to stay a Bull, and if Billy Donovan were still the coach there’s a good chance the free agent would be. The reality of the situation, however, is the Bulls are in a rebuild and extending Collins would only make sense if the price were right — and cheap.
Richards was a strange presence in the locker room and will be pushed out the free agent door, while Olbrich flashed a few times with his physicality but doesn’t have real staying power besides that.
THE DRAFT: Forget adding a center with No. 4, especially in this 2026 draft class. It’s wing AJ Dybantsa and guard Darryn Peterson, as well as forwards Cameron Boozer and Wilson. Whatever their selection order ends up being the Bulls will grab one of those four. No. 15 is where it will get interesting. The 7-4 Mara is climbing quickly and could go top 10 now, but if the Bulls do want to address the middle at that spot that’s where a Quaintance or Chris Cenac Jr. come in. Quaintance is a huge gamble with his knee issues but could become a force at the glass. Cenac has a 7-5 wingspan and has a higher floor than Quaintance.
FREE AGENCY: A free agent center only becomes a priority if Graham ends up going Wilson at No. 4 and then grabs a guard that slides to him at No. 15. Otherwise, the only free agent center shopping he should be doing is for depth at that position as bridge guys might be needed.
WILDCARD PREDICTION: After landing Wilson with the No. 4 pick and seeing Mara selected No. 11 by the Warriors, Graham goes best available player and selects guard Cameron Carr. That leaves Graham exploring free agency and testing how badly Utah wants to keep Kessler in house.