CRUCIAL: Utah Jazz at the CROSSROADS Will They CAVE Lose Their 2024 Draft Pick? | Utah Jazz Podcast
Utah Jazz fans are united: keeping the lottery pick is everything as the season hits the home stretch. Facing intense scrutiny over alleged tanking and front office pressures, David Locke dissects the franchise’s biggest priorities and the high stakes for Austin Ainge, Will Hardy, and young talents like Keyonte George, Walker Kessler, and Lauri Markkanen.
With Jaren Jackson Jr. adding urgency to the win-now window, the focus shifts to which rising stars—Bryce Sensabaugh, Cody Williams, Kyle Filipowski, Isaiah Collier—can truly contribute to a 50-win squad. Hear how Adam Silver’s comments, evolving draft strategies, and provocative takes from rival owners fuel the conversation. Can the Jazz replicate the Boston Celtics’ championship blueprint? How will the front office handle fine threats while maintaining a strong draft position? Tune in for inside analysis, burning fan questions, and where the Jazz go next.
00:00 Jazz Draft Pick Stakes & Adam Silver Reaction11:01 Alicia Liu Story & NBA Player Development18:22 Tanking, Roster Construction, and Future Moves
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27 Comments
I don’t understand why Sam Presti is upset. The dude got Derek Favors, he won the trade even if the first pick doesn’t convey.
Love how Windy is refusing to talk tanking now given the relationships he has burned apparently in Utah.
Cavs starters played 28, 24, 21, 19, and 16 minutes last night, they all sat in the 4th quarter. Do the Cavs get fined for tanking for sitting their starters in a game they won last night?
Anyone who wants to talk about the "integrity of the league" needs to be consistent right now. If you fine one team for winning while sitting their starters in the 4th, you have to fine every team for the same practice. This whole discussion has been ridiculous. The big national media is farming clicks/views, the league is looking harder into tanking than fraudulent contracts and salary cap circumvention. The stupidity in this media blitz tells me that the NBA is losing relevance.
We have to keep this pick! We can't go four years of tanking and then give up the last two months. Finish it until the end and then it's go time next season!
I think this system would be a great solution to tanking: The Executive Synopsis: The "Earn Your Luck" Model
Objective: To eliminate the incentive for late-season losing while ensuring a fair distribution of elite talent.
I. The Equalizer
• Base Odds: Every team that misses the playoffs starts with exactly one (1) lottery ball.
• The Prize: The lottery only draws for the Top 3 picks. Picks 4–14 are still awarded by reverse standings to ensure the worst teams still get high-end help.
II. The Incentive (The "Giant Killer" Bonus)
• The Earn: Only the teams in the bottom 7 of the league standings can improve their odds.
• The Mechanic: For every win recorded against a playoff-seeded team, that lottery team earns an additional 0.5 lottery balls.
• The Result: Teams are incentivized to play their starters and "spoil" the season for contenders, creating meaningful basketball for fans and developmental growth for players.
III. The "One-and-Done" Cooling Period
To prevent a single team from monopolizing the top of the draft through repeated lottery luck, we implement strict re-entry rules:
• The #1 Pick Penalty: If a team wins the 1st overall pick via the lottery, they are ineligible to participate in the Top-3 lottery for the next two (2) seasons.
• The #2 & #3 Pick Penalty: If a team wins the 2nd or 3rd overall pick, they are ineligible to participate in the Top-3 lottery for the following (1) season.
• Note: These teams still keep their "natural" pick based on their record; they just cannot move up into the Top 3 via the lottery during their cooling-off period.
Why This Hits Home
• For the GM: You aren't forced to "sell" a losing culture to your locker room. You tell your guys: "Every time we beat a contender, our franchise gets better odds."
• For the League: It solves the "Tanking" optics and the "Resting Stars" issue in one move.
• For the Fans: Your team is never "out of it." A big upset win in April feels like a massive victory for the draft.
Blowout Bounty. >
If a lottery team beats another by 20+, they steal 0.5 lottery balls from them. This makes it impossible to sit your stars against other bad teams. If you bench your best guys to lose, the other team will run up the score to steal your draft odds. You either play your best players, or you hand your lottery balls to your neighbor."
I can be a doctor and write a note that Lauri needs season ending Playstation thumb therapy!
joseph smith is history's biggest lech!
this whole Jazz tanking uproar is so laughable Jazz 2023/9th pick, 2024/9th pick and 20225/5th pick. OKC 2021/6th, 2022 2nd, 2023/10th & 2024 12th- 76ers 2013/11th, 2014/1st, 2015/3rd, 2016/1st, 20171st201810th yet the Jazz are the terrible for a 10th, 9th and a 5th. Look up Boston,
I disagree with you Mr. Locke. flattening out the odds completely for lottery teams would be good. You still try to help the don't haves by putting in stipulations that you can't get top 4 picks multiple years in a row, so a mid tier team can't get too lucky, but I think you have to take the incentive completely out of being at the very bottom, which is the cause of the most aggresive tanking behavior. You make a line between the teams that have competetive talent, and those that do not, and try to make it so that some of those teams that don't have a competitive roster gets what they need. the middle has the same problem as the bottom, give them both the same chance to get what they need to be at the top. If anything else, the bottom teams will fight for pride and build culture if nothing else. the truth is there aren't enough avenues to raise a lot of teams at once.
Dennis Lindsey should be tarred and feathered
I never seen a city and organization so sold on being trash
You guys rock
Yes, it's laughable that the national media are trying to tell Jazz fans how to feel, like we don't know what's going on here. I made this comment on social media the other day, and I still feel the same today: The majority of Jazz fans want the front office to do whatever is necessary to put together a team capable of winning a championship. I'll speak for myself personally…the 1998 Finals still haunts the franchise.
The Jazz not having a championship on their resume gives Journeymen players like Jason Williams to make asinine comments how he would cook Stockton, and he says that nonsense because he got a ring off the curtails of Dwayne Wade and Shaq. But, that's the type of disrespect and dismissiveness Jazz fans have had to endure from so-called experts, national yes-men, and ignorant former players who peddle tired narratives for a franchise that has the 6th highest winning percentage in league history, despite the "nobody wants to go to Utah" narrative that counters what every other news outlet reports (go look up top States to live as well as States experiencing the highest growth rate).
A championship validates everything…Stockton and Malone transform from players who "couldn't win the big one" to important players to set the foundation for one of the NBA's most successful franchises.
Ok, rant over.
We need to keep the pick. The NBA needs to examine how the PWHL conducts its draft. They have eliminated tanking.
Don't cave Jazz! Sit Lauri and Keyonte the rest of the season. No more Nurc either
Did you see Memphis injury report? They have 9 players out. Who is tanking?
One idea, once a team has had a top pick (1-X?) they are not eligible for another top pick in consecutive years or for X years.
Instead of benching your stars, just have them get into foul trouble. Can the league fine your team because you commit too many fouls???
we better not cave, that would be a huge disapointment – especially after everything we have sacrificed over the last several seasons
You seem like a great dad! Helping kids learn that its normal to have failures and sucky stuff. Very good!
The Jazz will continue this tank this year and EVERYONE KNOWS IT. Thank God this is the last year of tanking… It's been frustrating as a Jazz fan and I'm sure as Jazz players.
And Lauri sick after the week long rest they need to be fined again
Let’s see if Adam Silver sticks to his plan and fines the Jazz again for Lauri fake sickness!! Or was it just to quiet the noise for Jaren Jackson shutdown
The Jazz should just get all their starters in early foul trouble.
Take out the lottery, let the league look at the rosters talent wise and hand pick the draft order. That way teams play hard and if the talent isn't there they get a higher pick. Tanking wont matter if you already have talent. Teams will be more cautious trading future draft picks. After this year of course, Go Jazz!!
You got too be kidding jazz resting lauri again tonight unbelievable,they are too soft on players if there healthy he needs be playing,must be nice just too sit and make millions.im glad I don’t watch the jazz the last three years because of this crap Ryan smith and Danny boy been doing ever since they been here I’m glad the jazz fined there just as guilty for resting players too this organization is completely a joke now sell the team.there bringing a baseball team here it we’ll do way worse they have a hard time filling the stadium waste of big money .
Even as a Pacers fan, I love this pod! I root for the Jazz because they're not in my conference. When it comes to the changes the org will make I don't think it will be anything concerning the fans. Follow the money. The profit margin is going to come first. Their only option will be to get star players and keep a shallow bench. Just my opinion.
Tonight we did not cave. We need to double down on tanking… This season is already lost in terms of meaning beyond the young guys developing. We cannot give this pick up. Cannot.