Jazz's Lottery Odds Taking Shape With Each Loss Down the Stretch

The Utah Jazz lost their third game in a row on Saturday night against the Sacramento Kings, 121-113. The Jazz sit at 35-39 on the season and have now lost three in a row.

With the possibility of Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, and Collin Sexton being put on the shelf for the remainder of the season, it might be time to switch gears and embrace the tank. If the season were to end today, the Jazz would hold the No. 9 slot in terms of draft lottery odds.

What does this mean moving forward? How far can the Jazz move up? Let's examine.

At the No. 9 position, Utah would have a 20.2% chance of landing a top-four pick with a 4.5% chance of landing the No. 1 overall selection in the NBA draft. The most likely outcome would be landing at No. 9, with a 50.2% chance of being the final outcome.

However, the Jazz wouldn’t be guaranteed to land in the top nine, with a 25.9% chance of drawing the No. 10 spot and a 3% chance of No. 11.

How far can the Jazz drop in the standings? Even if the Jazz were to lose their remaining eight games, the Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers would still need to win two more games, while the Portland Trail Blazers would need three victories to get into a tie with Utah.

That’s a tall task considering those teams won’t be motivated to win games entering the home stretch. It’s been reported that All-Star guard Damian Lillard is close to being shut down for the season.

What it Means

If the Jazz were fortunate enough to get to the No. 8 slot, their odds of getting a top-four pick would only increase by 5%. It’s late in the game for Utah to make any significant progress in terms of lottery odds moving forward.

Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe on YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live-stream podcasts!