Will the Utah Jazz win another game this season? Do we want them to?
With an 11-game losing streak after last night's 131-102 thrashing at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers, the Utah Jazz are 29-48 and facing an uphill battle to get win number 30.
Situated with the 8th worst record in the NBA, with a strong remaining schedule (all 5 opponents are in playoff position except the Houston Rockets, who still have an outside shot at the play-in), each team has something to play for at this point. Hence, the Jazz's remaining foes will unlikely do them any favors.
If the Jazz go winless, it will translate to a 29-53 record, the worst mark since 2013-14 when the team went 25-57.
What do Jazz fans have to root for at this point? Not a whole lot. We've seen the rookies play, shoot, miss, struggle, and show flashes of talent here and there. But the final 5 games are not likely to show us anything magical from Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, or Brice Sensabaugh that we haven't already seen.
The few veterans still playing aren't going to impress much in 5 games, and their value is already determined for the offseason. Those staying, and those likely to be shown the door have likely already been determined by Jazz Brass.
More than likely, there won't be any significant changes in the lineup from here on out, as most combinations have been attempted in a season full of injuries and inconsistent play. And the team is likely to have around $40 million in cap space to make changes to the roster as needed.
So what is the silver lining, if the Jazz lose out? They could move up a spot to 7th in the lottery order, and increase their chances of getting the #1 pick from 6% to 7.5%, 10 times since the lottery was instituted in 1985, a team with sub-10% chances ended up with the first pick, most recently in 2019 when New Orleans got the 1st pick with 6% odds, worse than what the Jazz have currently.
So there's a chance, albeit slim, that lottery luck favors the Jazz and they move up. That's about the best-case scenario for the Jazz as this season winds to a merciful close.