Why are the Utah Jazz playing right now?
Since the trade deadline, the answer has been pretty transparent: the Jazz want to fall in the rankings in order to retain the rights to their protected top 10 in the 2024 NBA draft, rather than losing it to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Yes, there was a second goal swap Kelly Olynyk, Ochai Agbaji and Simone Fontecchio at the deadline — active development of young players.
It happened. Look no further than Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh.
Hendricks, the Jazz’s lottery pick last June, has played in eight straight games after playing in just 13 of the previous 52, while Sensabaugh has played in six of the last seven games, after playing in just four of the previous 52.
It’s not superficial play time either. The veteran trade gave Hendricks, Sensabaugh and Keyonte George real, meaningful minutes – a definite bonus for their development.
But that’s just a bonus. By trading several players who had made the Jazz a potential play-in team, Utah went all-in in the draft, this year and in future seasons.
Currently, the Jazz have the 11th worst record in the NBA, just a half-game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks. If the season ended today, Utah’s 2024 first-round pick would be traded to Oklahoma City. Worst case scenario, all things considered.
There is some good news on this, however.
Since the trade deadline, the Jazz have been in free fall, having lost seven of their last 10 games and 13 of their last 18.
And, by Tankathon And Power Rankings Guru — and really, by almost every available metric — Utah has the second-toughest schedule in the NBA for the rest of the season.
Of the team’s final 22 games this season, all but seven will be against teams with records above .500. Only two of the Jazz’s next opponents are completely out of the playoff races — the Washington Wizards and the San Antonio Spurs — and 10 of the final 22 games Utah plays will be against teams that — for now — would avoid the play-in tournament. in because of their high level. standing in their lectures.
The combined record of the Jazz’s remaining opponents is .550 and Utah will face teams like the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets and LA Clippers a total of nine times before the end of the season.
Each of these aforementioned teams are currently among the top four teams in the Eastern or Western Conference.
Of the teams currently performing worse than the Jazz, only San Antonio, Charlotte, Portland and Atlanta have tough schedules to close out the year, with the Spurs coming in at No. 5, Charlotte at No. 6, Portland at No. 7. and Atlanta at No. 8. And three of those teams are already guaranteed to have one of the five worst records in the league.
The Jazz have an unfortunate lead over most of the teams below them in the standings, outside of Atlanta and Houston.
For example, Brooklyn is currently in the running to land the No. 8 pick in the upcoming draft (although the Nets will send that pick to Houston) and the Nets are 3.5 games behind the Jazz in the standings.
Toronto is in the running to get the No. 7 pick (the Raptors will pass that selection on to San Antonio) and is 4.5 games behind the Jazz.
Memphis would be able to pick No. 6 if the season ended now, and the Grizzlies are behind the Jazz by 6.5 games.
There is no chance of a top-five pick for Utah – barring luck in the lottery process. Washington, Detroit, San Antonio, Charlotte and Portland have been too bad this season.
However, when it comes to keeping the pick this year, Utah is in a good place. Atlanta – currently the team with the 10th worst record in the league – is still very much alive in the Eastern Conference play-in race. The Hawks have the motivation to win and if/when they overtake the Jazz in the standings, Utah will keep their choice. Atlanta lost to the Nets on Thursday night, but the Hawks remain close to Chicago in the East play-in race.
Houston, currently the team with the ninth-worst record, appears to be out of the play-in race in the West, but the Rockets don’t control their first-round pick this season (that carries over to Oklahoma City). Losing doesn’t benefit them and they are currently only 1.5 games behind Utah in the standings.
The Hawks and Rockets also have easier schedules than the Jazz, with Atlanta – as previously mentioned – at No. 8 and Houston at No. 25.
Keeping a lottery pick in a draft that has been called the worst in over a decade may not seem like the most significant accomplishment, but even the much-maligned 2013 NBA draft produced a great all time in the person of Giannis Antetokounmpo, no longer an All-Star. to Victor Oladipo, not to mention the many players who lasted over a decade in the league, Olynyk being one of them.
Increasingly, it looks like the Jazz will keep their pick and have a chance to find their next star. Once the team’s trade deadline moves forward, that’s the best-case scenario.
