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Since the whole point of the Utah Jazz’s 2025-26 season is for them to keep their pick in June’s draft and get as high of a pick as possible, it’s good to periodically check in and see how they’re doing in the tank race.
A reminder: The Jazz would lose their pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it falls out of the top eight following the draft lottery.
Lottery night is on May 10, and there are a lot of teams that will be waiting with bated breath to find out where they land in the draft order. It’s not just the Jazz that are in danger of losing a pick because of protections, and there are other tanking teams that are hoping a high pick could change the trajectory of their team.
In order for the Jazz to 100% guarantee that they will have a top-eight pick in the draft, they have to close the regular season with no higher than the fourth-worst record. As of late Sunday afternoon, they have the fifth-worst record in the league at 19-45.
The Jazz are chasing the Washington Wizards (16-46), whom they beat Thursday night in Washington.
If the Jazz finish the season with the fifth-worst record, where they currently are, they would still have a 99.3% chance of landing in the top eight on lottery night, so the odds are in their favor.
If they were to improve their record and finish with the sixth-worst record, they would have a 96.1% chance of landing a top-eight spot and keeping their pick.
Finishing the season with the seventh-worst record means an 85.7% chance at a top-eight pick.
On lottery night, picks 1-4 are determined via lottery, and five through 14 are then distributed based on inverse record.
The New Orleans Pelicans (20-44) and Dallas Mavericks (21-41) are the Jazz’s most dangerous competition when it comes to the tank.
They are the teams that could easily displace the Jazz at the bottom of the standings, so those are the teams to watch when it comes to record as the rest of the season plays out.
New with the Jazz
From the archives
Extra points
- The Jazz might be tanking, but they aren’t creating a culture of losing (Deseret News)
- Jazz thinking about the future in loss to Nuggets (Deseret News)
- The NBA’s loyalties have shifted from what’s best for teams to what’s best for gamblers (Deseret News)
Around the league
- Celtics’ Jayson Tatum returns for season debut on Friday
- Suns’ Dillon Brooks arrested on suspicion of DUI
- Judge orders Malik Beasley to pay $1 million to former agency
Up next
- March 7 | 6 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz @ Milwaukee Bucks | KJZZ
- March 9 | 7 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz vs. Golden State Warriors | KJZZ
- March 11 | 7 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz vs. New York Knicks | KJZZ
- March 13 | 8 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz @ Portland Trail Blazers | KJZZ