Win or lose come lottery night, it’s a success for the Utah Jazz

While it’s a MASSIVE disappointment not to get the #1 pick, it forces a team to make the best possible pick from the players in the second and third tiers of the draft. More importantly, it forces a …

There is no question about it: the best case scenario for the Utah Jazz on lottery night is to have the lottery balls give them the top pick. Winning the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes will put the Utah Jazz on a strong track towards an NBA championship. The goal for every NBA team is to put together a team that can win a title. Having an MVP-caliber player is the most critical aspect of doing that. Cooper Flagg has that type of potential.

But what if the Jazz lose? Is it a failure?

While it’s a MASSIVE disappointment not to get the #1 pick, it forces a team to make the best possible pick from the players in the second and third tiers of the draft. More importantly, it forces a team to decide on its drafting principles.

For Utah, this draft allows them to solidify those team-building principles. The last three seasons, one thing has been a constant for the Jazz: they are a terrible defensive team. You can see the draft principles in action in the last few drafts to combat this. With their best pick in the last two seasons, the Jazz have picked potential two-way players in Taylor Hendricks and Cody Williams. Their later picks have appeared to be the best player available. It hasn’t worked perfectly, but Utah must continue this strategy.

Things would have gone well if they used this same strategy in the last two drafts and had tanked start-to-finish those seasons. Let’s say the Jazz tanked like they did this year and only got a little lucky with the 4-pick each time in ‘23 and ‘24. That would mean they’d have Amen Thompson and Stephon Castle leading their defense. You can see how that would have already changed the entire perception of the team’s future. The jury is still out with Taylor Hendricks, but he does fit the two-way player mold. We’ll see if Williams can be anything but a bust next year, but that may be a complete wash. Regardless, in this lottery, the Jazz can pick a variety of guys, if they miss out on Flagg, who can both defend on one end and score on the other. They must continue building around core principles that will eventually lead the Jazz to high-level contention.

Finally, remember that, at worst, the Jazz have the #5 pick in this draft. How badly would you have wanted that pick the last two seasons? Utah is in a much better position than it has ever been, and it’s exciting to see what the next step in the rebuild will look like.