Should the Jazz consider moving their pick in the lottery?
The Utah Jazz are in one of the most unique positions in the NBA heading into the offseason. Not only do the Jazz already have a young and competitive roster, but they’re also locked into a lottery pick. If the team chooses to use the lottery to fill a need on the roster, they’ll have the ability to do just that. But the organization will also have the ability to put together a package of draft compensation and young players to make nearly any move they desire.
So, with the variety of different approaches at hand to continue building the roster, should Danny Ainge and the Jazz consider moving their No. 9 overall pick?
Should the Jazz consider moving their lottery pick?
Utah is in prime position to add yet another talented piece to an already young team that’s knocking on the door of playoff contention. With the abundance of talent in this year’s draft class, the Jazz have plenty of options to choose from to develop under Will Hardy and pair with Lauri Markkanen.
If the Jazz do elect tomove their top-10 pick, there would be plenty of suitors not only looking to move up but also to move down in the draft order. If a trade partner does come knocking, should Utah look to move their pick?
The case to trade up in the lottery:
Outside of the No. 1 overall pick, Victor Wembenyama, the rest of the lottery picks are far from being solidified. The Jazz may find the desire to trade up in the draft to get their choice of the top talents rather than wait around at No. 9 and potentially watch their top choice be selected ahead of them.
Utah’s need for a point guard comes as no surprise, and following Wembenyama, there’s a flurry of different talented point guards for the Jazz to choose from, including the likes of Scoot Henderson, Amen Thompson, or perhaps Anthony Black.
If the Jazz do choose to move up in the draft order, the team will have plenty of assets to get a potential deal done. Along with the team’s array of young players to include in a deal, Ainge managed to rack up plenty of future draft picks between last offseason and the end of the year.
The case to trade down in the lottery:
Not only is this draft class talented, but the class is also pretty deep in terms of talent. There are plenty of prospects outside of the top 10 that the Jazz could target.
If Utah did catch wind that their choice in the draft could fall outside of the top 10, it would be a no-brainer to trade down and acquire future picks and/or another player to add to the roster.
Piling up future assets would give the team flexibility in the future if a star becomes available. Aside from that, keeping lower-salary contracts on the payroll will allow the Jazz to maintain plenty of cap space moving forward if the team does decide to make a splash or two during free agency in the coming years.
While what the Jazz do come draft night is up in the air, the team will have plenty of options to choose from with their No. 9 overall pick.
