How the Thunder could factor into the Jazz's lottery odds

The Utah Jazz won their Tankapalooza game against the Washington Wizards. While this technically drops the Jazz to No. 2 in the lottery odds, it doesn't hurt them in any way.

They are still tied with the Wizards and Hornets for the best odds for the No. 1 pick at 14%. In other words, their odds are just as good at getting Cooper Flagg as those two are. The obvious goal is to have one of the three worst records in the NBA to get the best odds possible.

Many will stay tuned to see how the Jazz fare with about a month left in the season. According to Tankathon, they have the second-toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, which is good news for them. However, it may also motivate other tankers to throw in the towel as much as possible to keep up with Utah.

Another surprising factor is at play here. As odd as it sounds, the Oklahoma City Thunder are one team that could affect the Jazz's lottery odds. The Thunder and Jazz have been on opposite ends of the Western Conference this year, and the Thunder pretty much have the Western Conference wrapped up.

So, how could OKC factor into the Jazz's lottery odds? Because they want a lottery pick of their own, and they can get that if the pick the Sixers owe them this year falls out of the top-six. Because of that, they will do everything to ensure the Sixers finish with a record outside of the bottom six in the NBA. These efforts involve the Jazz and their other tanking competition.

OKC has games against the Jazz, Hornets, and Pelicans before the season ends. All three teams have worse records than the Sixers. The Thunder will likely be on their A-game against them to ensure they stay ahead of the Sixers in the tanking game.

If this all sounds like speculation, look what happened when the Thunder faced the Sixers last night.

The Thunder were "shorthanded" against the Sixers

Let's just say OKC wasn't exactly at full strength when they took on the Sixers. So much so that it seemed like it was by design. Just look at their injury report before the game.

Did it work? Nope! The undermanned Thunder—yes, there was some temptation to call OKC "Thundermanned"—still handled their business over the Sixers, but it confirmed exactly what the Thunder wanted to do: they will take every measure to get that pick.

It will be the exact opposite when they face Utah because they won't take any chances of Philadelphia getting closer even if it would take a miracle for the Sixers to bottom out badly enough to catch the Jazz, Wizards, or Hornets.

This is simultaneously good news and not-so-good news for the Jazz. Because the Thunder will have extra motivation to beat the Jazz, Utah will gladly take any loss to ensure they maintain the top-three lottery odds. But the same goes for when the Thunder take on the Hornets and Pelicans.

So many measures will be taken from the Jazz and their fellow tankers to get the best odds possible, but who knew the Thunder would actually play a part in the late-season tank?