It wasn't the worst fate in the world if the Utah Jazz lost the coin flip yesterday. If they had lost, the Jazz would still have had pretty good chances of a high pick and, better yet, excellent chances of keeping it away from Oklahoma City. However, because Lady Luck was on their side, they can now add a lottery pick to a playoff team.
This is a bigger deal beyond the fact that the Jazz avoided the worst-case scenario. For decades, it has felt like Utah has gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to lottery luck. Just look at what happened last year. They had their worst season in franchise history, and they still wound up with the worst possible outcome with the No. 5 pick.
Now, it worked out in the end because Ace Bailey was awesome, which speaks more to how loaded last year's draft class was. But still, that's only one example of the multiple times where playing the lottery did not go Utah's way.
The year before, they had the league's eighth-worst record, and dropped to No. 10. When they were tied for the league's fourth-worst record, they got the No. 5 pick in the draft. Not the worst luck, but it's clear as day that the few times Utah has tried to play the lottery, it has not worked out in their favor.
Technically, a coin flip is not the same thing as the lottery itself, but it's in the same ballpark. For that reason, for once, Utah got the best out come.
Jazz aren't out of the woods, but they finally got lucky
By winning the coin flip, Utah no longer has to worry about conveying their pick to Oklahoma City. But there is still the possibility that they will yet again get a raw deal from the lottery. They have a 2.4% chance of getting the No. 8 pick, i.e., the worst outcome they can in the lottery.
It's better than the 0.6% chance of getting the No. 9 pick, which would have happened if they lost the coin flip, and hence would have put them in danger of sending their pick to the Thunder, but even so, those 2.4% odds are miniscule but still legitimate.
It would be great if the lucky times continue in Utah when the draft lottery happens, but even if they don't, the Jazz are still very well-built for what's to come next season. Getting a high lottery pick from a loaded class to a team that has the talent to compete at a high level isn't a necessity, but a luxury.
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