Well, what do you know? The Utah Jazz are on a two-game winning streak. After their topsy-turvy win over the Pistons, they emerged victorious against the Nets. For the little that has gone right, the Jazz can take pleasure in knowing they had technically at least one winning stretch.
Tonight's result was not shocking since the Nets are missing their best scorer (Cam Thomas) and traded one of their best players, Dennis Schroder, last week. As we get closer and closer to the deadline, the Nets are expected to get worse as they trade off some of their most important players off, like Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith.
Because of that, the Jazz might come to regret pulling off wins like these against teams that are in the same boat as them. Even after nights like tonight, the Jazz have a three-and-a-half game edge over the Nets in the tanking game, but with the Nets expected to bottom out, they have plenty of time to close that gap between now and April.
So when the Nets win a game like this, that can have massive implications for when the lottery comes around. Even if the lottery odds are much more spread out, a worse record means better odds anyway.
However, since both teams are in the same boat, the Jazz are also expected to bottom out as the season progresses. Both Jordan Clarkson and John Collins have shown up in legitimate trade buzz over the past week, and that should only pick up more steam as the weeks go by.
As it turns out, another Jazzman may have given a real jolt to his trade value tonight.
Svi Mykhailiuk might be raising his trade value
Mykhailiuk has mostly ridden the pine ever since he came to Utah, but when he's played, more often than not, he's thrived in his limited minutes. Tonight, the Jazz won because of his efforts, as he scored 18 points on seven-for-11 shooting, which included four three-pointers.
While the Jazz shouldn't expect him to play like that every night, Mykhailiuk is playing well enough that the Jazz shouldn't keep his production level in the cage. Mykhailiuk is a shooter with size with a very team-friendly contract.
The Jazz shouldn't expect a first-round pick out of him, but Mykhailiuk has played well enough that the Jazz could use him to get more sweetener in any potential deals. It's most definitely plausible since he's not paid much as a veteran.
No one should have any problem with Svi getting more time. That is, as long as it doesn't get in the way of the tank.