The one thing that scares NBA fans is when the rich can get richer. The Utah Jazz were in danger of this when they could have conveyed a top-10 pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Luckily, they were able to avoid it altogether, but keeping their pick in what is supposed to be a loaded draft is bad news for the NBA, as it could potentially make Utah one of the league's most unbeatable teams.
This is all hypothetical, since we haven't yet seen what the Jazz will look like with Jaren Jackson Jr. and Walker Kessler together fully healthy, but oh man, it's hard not to think about how lethal they could be even without a golden prospect.
The Jazz have the potential to be a two-way force, with prime Lauri Markkanen gunning for another All-Star campaign to go with the rising Keyonte George and Ace Bailey. And now that team gets to add a top-eight pick to this squad?
The Jazz may have prevented the rich Thunder from getting richer, but by keeping their pick, the Jazz, a rich team that no one has paid much attention to because of their bad play for the last two seasons, may have also gotten richer.
We won't know for sure until we see what Utah's roster on the court next season, but the Jazz's status as a title contender feels like a foregone conclusion, regardless of how things shake up in the lottery.
This was a pick your poison situation
This situation was either going to wind up with the reigning champions getting a top-10 pick in a loaded draft, giving them yet another prospect on a team that has done a perfect job of developing them, or it would have gone to the Jazz, a team that was already well-positioned to become a playoff team. There was no easy solution in this scenario.
And the craziest part is that the Thunder will still get a few first-round picks anyway, so one could argue it would not have mattered whether they got the Jazz pick.
One could argue that it's easier for the NBA to see the pick stay in Utah, as the Jazz's quality as a team will remain in the abstract next season until Opening Night, as opposed to the Thunder, who are contenders and will likely continue to be despite the roster turnover sure to come as early as this summer.
Now, no one should count their chickens before they hatch, but the Jazz have given the NBA some pretty serious hints that they plan to take the league by storm next season. Who they get in the lottery could determine how much damage they do.
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