The Utah Jazz have built up a treasure trove of draft picks since blowing up their squad in 2022. As good as it is to have draft capital to offer in potential trades, they won't have much value if the teams that the picks were acquired from turn out to be good.
At the same time, the Jazz traded Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert while fully understanding that those two could elevate the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively. That's why those trades came with the condition that the picks sent back be completely unprotected. However, there was a time when it looked a little dire for the latter.
The Timberwolves stumbled out of the gate after shockingly trading Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, with the season not too far away. Their draft pick's situation got a little more interesting when DiVincenzo got hurt while the Timberwolves struggled to figure themselves out without Towns.
Unfortunately for the Jazz, the Timberwolves have shown that they just needed a little time before they figured themselves. Right now, they're surging.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are 11-0 in the last 11 games that Julius Randle has played in pic.twitter.com/LU8AKcf0yk
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 13, 2025
In so doing, the Timberwolves have a record of 38-29. If the season ended today, the Jazz would receive the No. 20 pick in the draft, per Tankathon.
A first-round pick is still a first-round pick, but man the hope that perhaps they would get another lottery pick from the Timberwolves was exciting. Now that the Timberwolves are peaking at the right time, it's almost a certainty that pick's not going to the lottery.
However, the Jazz shouldn't fret because, first, they still have Phoenix's unprotected pick in 2031, and second, they've had some success finding talent outside of the lottery.
The Jazz have hit on late draft picks lately
The Jazz hit on a few of their later draft picks in the last year alone. Isaiah Collier is turning out to be the best playmaker the Jazz have had since Mike Conley. Kyle Filipowski has proven from the beginning that he is a rotation big. Neither were lottery picks and could be part of the Jazz's next contending team.
Hitting on non-lottery picks doesn't necessarily happen year in and year out, but Danny Ainge and co. have proven they have an eye for talent. It would be better if they had more options with a higher pick, but not all hope is lost.
Plus, the Jazz are more focused on their own pick more than anything else at the moment. But getting another lottery pick would have been a nice bonus.