The Utah Jazz are going to be in a very tight tanking race to end this season. Right now, they’re competing with the Kings, Pacers, Nets, Pelicans, and Wizards to jump into the top-5 come lottery night.
A team to watch is the New Orleans Pelicans, who are not incentivized to tank at all this season. I think it’s a safe bet that the Jazz get to the #5 spot come lottery night, but can they jump higher? The Wizards are also just two games up on the Jazz, and it’s possible the Jazz jump them as well. So that leads us to today’s question.
In what lottery position do the Utah Jazz finish at the end of this season?
My personal guess? I think the Jazz will do what it takes to get to the #4 spot, ensuring themselves that they have zero chance to give their pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Adam Silver will do anything to hurt the Jazz, as evidenced by his latest fines, which focused on the Jazz even though other teams have done the same things the Jazz have done this season. And maybe this is all just hopefull thinking than logic, but I want to stick it to Silver and the NBA as much as possible as the season progresses and into the future. Let’s get into that top-4, Jazz!