What's next for Jazz after suffering worst-case scenario in NBA Draft Lottery?
In the weeks and days leading to Monday's NBA Draft Lottery, the Utah Jazz and their fans knew the worst-case scenario for the team with the league's worst record was the most likely possibility. In each of the last two seasons, the Detroit Pistons lost games without mercy, carried the best lottery odds into Chicago, and walked away with the No. 5 pick. In a Victor Wembanyama draft in 2023, the Pistons came away with Ausar Thompson.
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Thompson is one of the best defenders in the NBA and has All-Star potential. But he's not the generational talent the Pistons wanted. It was a devastating day for Detroit's fan base. But two years later, the Pistons are one of the best young teams in the NBA.
Monday night was difficult for the Jazz. Yes, they knew, prepared for, and in some ways even expected the worst case to come to fruition. But seeing the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers jump them from way back in the order was hard to deal with. Not getting a shot at Cooper Flagg, this year's generational level talent, or Dylan Harper, a dynamic consolation prize of a point guard and likely No. 2 pick, hurt Jazz fans in ways that haven't been seen since Gordon Hayward defected to the Boston Celtics in free agency.
The Jazz, who went 17-65, lost more than 60 games in a season for the first time in franchise history. They went to creative depths to lose games with a roster that was too talented to lose that many games. It was painful for both the franchise and the fan base to sit through. So, that's where the pain comes from on Monday night. The average Jazz fan was asked to sit through a year like this just to miss the chance to cheer for Flagg or Harper.
In reality, Utah is going to draft a good player. Rutgers wing Ace Bailey could be available. Tre Johnson, the shooting guard from Texas, may be available. Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe, or even someone like Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears, may be available.
All are nice talents. In the right system, with the right opportunities, someone from that group is likely to emerge as an All-Star or even an All-NBA-level player. But this Jazz fan base needed someone to galvanize it, especially after watching the Jazz trade away Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Mitchell has emerged as one of the best players in the league, and Gobert may have a chance at an elusive NBA title.
Utah is in the thick of the rebuild, which is fine. What isn't fine is that the Jazz are still looking for a player to build around. It isn't going to be Keyonte George. Taylor Hendricks, provided he comes back healthy from his broken leg, has a chance to be a great role player. But he won't be a leading guy. Cody Williams is young and has a long way to go in his development. But he had a concerning rookie season.
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Monday was about potentially having the chance to draft the franchise-level player.
So, now what? Where do the Jazz go from this point?
The best thing, the smart thing, is to use the No. 5 pick and take the best player on the board. Then have the same kind of season again in 2025-26. Then try their luck again in the 2026 lottery.
There are a few things that would be different in this scenario. With Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer, the 2026 draft has three potential franchise-level talents, while the 2025 draft has two. So, the odds could be more in Utah's favor. Secondly, the 2026 draft is deeper at the top, which means the player at No. 5 in 2026, possibly someone like Karim López, is going to potentially be better than whoever the Jazz walk away with in June.
Even if this sounds a bit contradictory, I believe the Jazz will walk away with a good player in June. I like Johnson. I like Edgecombe. But if you lose 65 games, those names don't create significant excitement. I think the Jazz fan base needs some juice. They need to see a level of hope. But that was dashed a bit on Monday night. That's the difficult part of falling to No. 5.
The question next season is whether the Jazz decision makers want to go through another 60-loss season. It took a toll on the current roster. NBA players are competitors. They want to win. These are players with a limited professional shelf life and a limited window to make money and leave a legacy. It's hard to go through a single season where the goal is to accrue as many ping pong balls as possible. It would be asking a lot for the players and the fans to go through another season of the same thing.
The other option is to fill out a roster to be as competitive as possible. That would almost certainly mean hitting the free agency or trade market in search of a veteran point guard capable of running the team. The downside is this: Utah's first-round pick next season is owed to (you guessed it) the Oklahoma City Thunder, with top-eight protection. Should the Jazz win too many games, that pick would likely be conveyed to the Thunder.
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Does neither option sound particularly appealing? It's the plight of the small-market team in the NBA. The margin for error isn't just small, it's almost non-existent. You need to be as perfect as Denzel Washington told his football team it had to be in the movie 'Remember the Titans.' But you also have to have some luck. The San Antonio Spurs weren't perfect in every move they made over the last five years. But they moved up in the 2023 lottery, which got them Wembanyama. They moved up in the 2024 lottery, which got them Stephon Castle. Their third consecutive move up in this, the 2025 lottery, will give them the flexibility to draft Harper or become a trade team.
Utah, so far, hasn't had that kind of lottery luck. The Jazz have never won the lottery. And on Monday night, they dropped four spots. So they have to take matters into their own hands. Maybe that means trying to use assets to move up. Maybe that means making the perfect selection at No. 5, and finding a franchise-level guy who wasn't expected to be one. Whatever it is, the Jazz must find a way to move past Monday's disappointment and make meaningful strides in their current rebuild.
They are excited about the pool of players they get to pick from. And they still have a second first-round pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves at No. 21, which means they will work out a wide range of players.
Monday night is over. Utah knows what hand it has been dealt.
Now, the real work begins.
(Photo of NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum: Melissa Tamez / NBAE via Getty Images)
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