The Jazz have been central to the discourse around tanking — about the ethics of it, what the league and media thinks, and so on. We’ll leave that discussion whole discussion alone, but the reality is that the Jazz are lottery-bound in a year when the draft class projects to be very strong. Every loss improves their probability of getting a better draft pick.
Currently tools like tankathon.com exist, where visitors can see how the Jazz fair in the lottery standings and simulate the lottery based on their current position. Our own Dan Clayton posts periodic graphics that provide additional context specific to the Jazz.
At Salt City Hoops, we built a tool that combines features and data from other popular sources, but with a focus on the Utah Jazz.
You can check out the SCH Lottery Watch tool here.
A few features worth highlighting:
- You can see today’s games that feature the bottom-10 teams.
- The current lottery standings, with Utah highlighted. Notable stats about competing teams are shown (e.g. remaining strength of schedule, record over last 10 games, etc.).
- Within the table are a list of remaining games vs. bottom-6 teams. These games are particularly impactful on the top of the lottery race.
- Next to the “Top 4%” column is an expand icon that will show the exact odds of every pick for every lottery team.
- In the Jazz Pick Odds section you can see a detailed breakdown of where Utah’s pick will land as well as historical picks from that position and who the Jazz might target with each pick.
- If you have your own big board you can adjust the player order as you see fit!
- And of course, there is the popular “run lottery” feature, that will simulate the results based on current position. Run this to your heart’s desire. (Also note there are Easter eggs if the Jazz get the top pick or lose their pick to OKC.)
Have fun with this tool! Let us know if you spot any bugs or have ideas for future features.
