BROOKLYN — The Utah Jazz beat the Brooklyn Nets 105-94 on Saturday night and have won two games in a row.
From a development, morale and chemistry building standpoint, the wins against the Detroit Pistons on Thursday and then the Nets on Saturday have been really good for the Jazz.
They certainly haven’t been the best games the Jazz have played and they certainly didn’t look that great at times, but finding ways to stay together, withstand runs and not give into tense situations has been a real opportunity for growth for a number of the players.
“It makes me very optimistic as a coach about our group,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said, “because when things have been hard in our last two games, the team has come together and not fractured.
“It’s been something that we’ve talked about a lot. In the first quarter (Saturday), our defense was good, couldn’t make a shot, couldn’t make a free throw and the team just stuck with it, so for us to to win these two games on the road and fight through some tough offense makes me proud as a coach.”
From an end-goal standpoint, though, these are not great wins for the Jazz. The Nets and Pistons could be teams that end up in contention for high lottery spots, and these two wins have given the Jazz the fifth-worst record in the league.
That means that there are four teams with worse records who are in line to get better lottery odds. Fifth in lottery odds is good for a 10.5% chance at the No. 1 pick.
There are still 55 games to play so the season is still young and there’s plenty of time for lottery and end-of-season position jockeying, but these wins against some of the other tanking teams could end up being really important once the win-loss columns are finalized.
Comparing the Nets roster to the Jazz
The Jazz are in such a unique spot as a tanking team that is rebuilding because they have so many players that really could be foundational pieces for the future, which is something that has its pros and cons.
Obviously having players such as Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler and a whole group of young guys who could develop into more effective players is a great place to start when thinking about building a future team, but when that’s paired with players such as Collin Sexton, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson and even plug-and-play guys like Svi Mykhailiuk, it makes the group a lot more savvy, experienced and talented than some of the other teams who are looking to lose the majority of their games this season.
When you look at the Nets roster and think about who they might want to keep as a part of a foundational core for the future, it’s hard to really look at anyone past Cam Thomas.
I guess you could make an argument for trying to develop a couple of the other young players on the team, but there’s no one that really stands out as someone to invest time and money into.
It just got me thinking about things from a fan’s perspective and I can see both arguments. You want to lose as many games as possible to maximize the chance to get a No. 1 pick, but if there isn’t anyone on the team that is worth keeping to play alongside that No. 1 pick then are you really being successful in a rebuild?
It just feels like (so long as the Jazz don’t win too many games) the Jazz are in a more favorable position when it comes to really putting together a team down the road.