Regardless of their draft pick situation, the Utah Jazz are in a pretty good spot right now. With Jaren Jackson Jr. and Walker Kessler likely to return at 100% next season, there's a lot to like about their prospects. What would vault them from good to scary is not just keeping their pick this year, but also winning the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery.
Because the Jazz are trying to avoid the sticky situation they have put themselves in with the Thunder, which OKC is trying to crack down on, not many have thought about the prospect of them winning the lottery. However, The Ringer's Michael Pina recently raised the idea while discussing teams that would benefit most from winning the lottery.
(Of the nine teams Pina mentions, the Jazz came in at No. 4)
"How good would the Jazz actually be next season if they got the top pick? Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., Keyonte George, and a potential superstar in waiting? This might be scary hours," Pina wrote.
Utah will be a playoff contender regardless of how lottery luck goes. They'll be more than happy to have their pick period, but to win the lottery gives them so many options for where they could go next.
If they got a franchise playe rin the making on top of the core they have now, they basically get the rare privilege of building for now and later. They'll have veterans like Markkanen, JJJ, and Kessler, but they'll also have an exciting youth movement that can step in and take the baton including the No. 1 pick, George, and Ace Bailey.
There's an argument to be made that Utah would be in danger of having too much talent, but even if that's the case, it's a good problem to have.
History puts the odds against them though
As exciting as this prospect is, the lottery has not been too kind to the Jazz. Because of how exciting Bailey is, it's very easy to forget that Utah had the worst-case scenario happen to them at last year's draft lottery.
They were the worst team in the league and yet wound up with the No. 5 pick. And that's not the first time it's happened. They've moved up before, like the year they had the Nets pick in 2011 and got the No. 3 pick, but that has very much been the exception, not the norm.
But, that's the lottery for you. You never know what's going to happen. Teams that haven't had much success in the lottery suddenly find themselves to as much. The Mavericks never seemed to get that lucky until they captured the Flagg last year. Even so, part of why Jazz fans are paying more attention rather than seeing how high it could go is because their unlucky history doesn't get them as excited.
Still, while Jazz fans will settle for simply keeping their pick, adding the No. 1 pick to a team as talented as Utah will likely put them in a golden situation next season. So much so that it would be hard to figure out what the limit on their ceiling would be if they finally win.