Jazz Lottery Pick Watch

[Inigo Montoya]

Well, I think it's about time. Doesn't matter if you're pro or anti tanking, we're probably going to end up in the lottery and the only question is where and how high\low? So, this is what this thread is for.

Last night (Jan 15th) was a good night for that tank thing that we're not doing. A whole bunch of teams who are at our same range had won, and we...didn't. So right now, we're 2 wins away from a top 5 pick. Here's where things stand so far (all teams ranked 9th or lower in their conference:

Los Angeles Clippers: 21-21 (tied for 8th with Denver and Portland)
Philadelphia 76ers: 20-20
New York Knicks: 20-24
Charlotte Hornets: 17-25
Utah Jazz: 17-26
Chicago Bulls: 17-27
Brooklyn Nets: 16-28
Phoenix Suns: 16-28
Los Angeles Lakers: 15-28
Dallas Mavericks: 15-29
Memphis Grizzlies: 14-28
Sacramento Kings: 13-30
Orlando Magic: 12-31
Atlanta Hawks: 12-31

Edit: Adding this tank watch site (courtesy of stitches), for your convenience. http://www.tankathon.com/

[KqWIN]

If you sit Gobert, I think 7-8 is a possibility but I don’t see it getting any better than that.

Realistically I think Gobert will return and we’ll be right about where we are now 10-12.

[Inigo Montoya]

Just move the players who are going to be gone anyway for whatever picks you can get, or just for worse players who'll also expire. Sign a bunch of D-leaguers and try to find a diamond in the rough like O'Neale or Covington. Give Bradley some NBA minutes. And don't risk Gobert's already volatile health (this season) for a lost cause of a season. Sit the guy with a severe case of sprained earlobe.

Or, you know, just play Rubio, Favors and Gobert together 48 minutes every game.

[KDBG]

Just move the players who are going to be gone anyway for whatever picks you can get, or just for worse players who'll also expire. Sign a bunch of D-leaguers and try to find a diamond in the rough like O'Neale or Covington. Give Bradley some NBA minutes. And don't risk Gobert's already volatile health (this season) for a lost cause of a season. Sit the guy with a severe case of sprained earlobe.

Or, you know, just play Rubio, Favors and Gobert together 48 minutes every game.

Agree with everything you said, but the tricky thing is with Gobert. Yes, if you sit Gobert the rest of the season, you won't risk any further injury. But let's say you bring him back for a month or so, and he absolutely dominates. Don't you think that would help his trade value? And how much lower, if any, has his value dropped with two injuries this season? Gobert is our only great asset. There is no right or wrong answer, just something to think about.

[stitches]

Never hit a trey for Trae

[Inigo Montoya]

Agree with everything you said, but the tricky thing is with Gobert. Yes, if you sit Gobert the rest of the season, you won't risk any further injury. But let's say you bring him back for a month or so, and he absolutely dominates. Don't you think that would help his trade value? And how much lower, if any, has his value dropped with two injuries this season? Gobert is our only great asset. There is no right or wrong answer, just something to think about.

I don't think Gobert giving a beastly month should change his value that much. All the league knows by now what kind of a player he is and what he can do, and he's not coming back from a serious injury. He's locked for the next 4 seasons, so I'd say his value is still high and stable.

But if you want to throw out hypotheticals, then let's try this: Jazz tank the season and end up in the top 5, then trades Gobert on draft night for another top 5 pick + a good prospect\s (Labissiere+Heild+2018top 5 pick+Kings' 2019\2020 first). We're then in a position to draft two of: Ayton, Young, Porter, Bamba, Bagley, Doncic. This would be a quick reload of top-level talent to pair with Mitchell and that is more aligned to his timeline than Gobert's.

[Inigo Montoya]

Never hit a trey for Trae

Play Trey for Trae.

Spoiler:

Because both of our Treys sucked.

[KqWIN]

You are going to have a tough time convincing Rudy to sit. He’s gonna want to play. But I guess you can just play him with Favors. It costs you progress you can make as team though.

[AingesBurner]

Rudy's value also lies in the fact he LIKES UTAH, we cannot underestimate this, Ayton is from the Bahama's and plays ball in Arizona, chances are he will want to play in a warm climate for a team like the Lakers, I highly doubt he wants to freeze his ass off in Utah, it will be like a scene from Cool Runnings.

[Crunch 99]

Realistically I think Gobert will return and we’ll be right about where we are now 10-12.

I think there is a pretty good chance of overtaking a few of the top nine worst teams. Out of that group, only the Magic and Kings have as bad a record as us over the last ten games, and those two teams are probably already out of reach anyway.

When I watch Jazz games though, I will still be rooting for the Jazz to win.

[sipclip]

There is a great chance of finishing in the top 7. Right now we have 3 teams below us that I think jump us. The bulls have been rolling and with Lavine back I think it continues. The Lakers and Nets have no reason to tank and I think both teams improve as the season goes on. Those 3 teams jumping us would put us in the top 7. Then of course to cement our spot we have to dump Favors and possibly Ingles, Hood, Burks and Rubio if the right deal presents itself.

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[KqWIN]

Realistically I think Gobert will return and we’ll be right about where we are now 10-12.

I think there is a pretty good chance of overtaking a few of the top nine worst teams. Out of that group, only the Magic and Kings have as bad a record as us over the last ten games, and those two teams are probably already out of range anyway.

When I watch Jazz games though, I will still be rooting for the Jazz to win.

There will always be highs and lows during the season. We’re obviously at a low right now, but things will eventually swing up at some point.

We aren’t this bad, just like we weren’t that good when we blowing out teams every night.

[Winglish]

Wouldn't it be fantastic if the draft gods took care of Utah Jazz the way they did Cleveland after Lebron left?

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[AingesBurner]

Wouldn't it be fantastic if the draft gods took care of Utah Jazz the way they did Cleveland after Lebron left?

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It's only fair that the NBA rigs the draft for the Jazz after they did it for Cleveland.

[zero24gravity]

Just move the players who are going to be gone anyway for whatever picks you can get, or just for worse players who'll also expire. Sign a bunch of D-leaguers and try to find a diamond in the rough like O'Neale or Covington. Give Bradley some NBA minutes. And don't risk Gobert's already volatile health (this season) for a lost cause of a season. Sit the guy with a severe case of sprained earlobe.

Or, you know, just play Rubio, Favors and Gobert together 48 minutes every game.

Agree with everything you said, but the tricky thing is with Gobert. Yes, if you sit Gobert the rest of the season, you won't risk any further injury. But let's say you bring him back for a month or so, and he absolutely dominates. Don't you think that would help his trade value? And how much lower, if any, has his value dropped with two injuries this season? Gobert is our only great asset. There is no right or wrong answer, just something to think about.

Trade value? There's a ZERO% chance the Jazz are trading Gobert, IMO ....nor should they. He should come play once he's fully ready. He and Mitchell need to build chemistry, not wait until next season & have to use the first 20 games to figure things out together.

[Cappy_Smurf]

The good news is that Utah is the 2nd worst road team in the league right now. Our tank game on the road is solid AF.

That means that if Quin really works the tank at home, Utah has a good chance of improving their tank as the season goes on. The stupid fans need to shut their yaps and let Rodney shoot us out of games early, and this tank could end up in a nice spot.

[Crunch 99]

The good news is that Utah is the 2nd worst road team in the league right now. Our tank game on the road is solid AF.

That means that if Quin really works the tank at home, Utah has a good chance of improving their tank as the season goes on. The stupid fans need to shut their yaps and let Rodney shoot us out of games early, and this tank could end up in a nice spot.

Rodney's record with the Jazz this season is 12-22. In the 12 Jazz wins, Rodney averaged 16.6 ppg on 43% shooting from the field and 45% from three. In the 22 Jazz losses, Rodney averaged 16.4 ppg on 39% shooting from the field and 34% from three. This January, Rodney is averaging 25% from three point range over six games. We've won one game in January. At some point though, Rodney Hood is going to get hot again.

On another note, I think losing Sefalosha is a pretty big deal. Sefalosha played hard nosed defense and did a lot of little things to help us win.

[stitches]

Here's an indispensable link for all tank commanders, where you can follow how far your team is off the really good spots in the draft: http://www.tankathon.com/

We are just 2.5 games out of the 5th spot and the Lakers have been playing better and winning games with the return of Lonzo and Memphis will be winning more games with the return of Mike Conley(which is imminent from what I'm hearing) and PHX has been better since Booker has been back from injury. Another low-key tanktastic news is that Gobert is likely to return this weekend while both Favors and Rubio are still on the team. That lineup starts -10 every game so we can be expected to continue dropping... or is it... climbing (?!) in the standings.

[Daddy 801]

I hope we have a minutes restriction on Gobert and the second we look like we might be winning a game we magically hit his minute restrictions. Play DM and Gobert like 28 mins together. Put in the second unit and let them lose our games. Please.

[Cappy_Smurf]

Another low-key tanktastic news is that Gobert is likely to return this weekend while both Favors and Rubio are still on the team. That lineup starts -10 every game so we can be expected to continue dropping... or is it... climbing (?!) in the standings.

Rudy coming back won't be good for the tank, despite the narrative. Our offense hasn't been good without him and our defense will get a lot better when he's back.