With under five games to go in their 2025-26 regular season, the Utah Jazz might’ve snuck into some extremely fortunate circumstances in the NBA Draft Lottery due to what transpired on Friday night’s late of games.
And it’s not just because of how the Jazz took care of business themselves, but because they were able to get some extra help as well.
Factoring in both the Jazz’s latest blowout loss to the Houston Rockets, 106-140, combined with the Sacramento Kings claiming a win over the New Orleans Pelicans, it places both Utah and Sacramento at a record of 21-57––tied for the fourth-worst in the NBA, and thus the fourth-best for the top pick in the lottery.
The late-season shift in the lottery comes both because of the Jazz’s own bleak stretch, but also thanks to a recent surge from the Kings’ behalf.
As the Jazz have won only one of their past 10 games, the Kings have gone 4-6 across their own last 10 game slate. Therefore, it’s allowed Utah to make a subtle climb up the lottery standings.
There’s still work to do before the Jazz can say they have top-four odds once again in this year’s lottery with a week to go in the NBA regular season. But if able to keep the losses coming, it’ll have some massively positive long-term implications for the offseason.
Why a Top Four Pick is Important
The biggest benefit of the Jazz claiming top four odds doesn’t center around the ceiling that pick could have. 11.5% odds at the number one pick certainly aren’t bad, but not a huge shift from the 10.5% chance that a potential fifth slot would hold. The real value is in the security it provides.
If within the top four odds in the lottery, the Jazz’s top-eight protected pick currently with the OKC Thunder would have a 100% chance to be retained compared to the 99.4% in place with what the fifth-best odds would offer.