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SALT LAKE CITY — Sit every one of them — any player capable of making a difference in the outcome over the last four games this season.
The Utah Jazz have come this far, spiraling out of any form of postseason chances, so don't blow it now. Too much is at stake to risk winning games before the season ends on Sunday.
This means Lauri Markkanen and Talen Horton-Tucker can join Jordan Clarkson, who hasn't played since March 5, on the sidelines. Rookie center Walker Kessler, in concussion protocol, is expected to sit out this week.
Through 78 games, with the ninth fewest wins in the league, the Jazz reside in 12th place in the Western Conference standings. Theoretically, they still could qualify for the playoffs — or more accurately in this case, the relatively new play-in format that involves the teams 7-10 in the final standings.
At 36-42, the Jazz don't deserve to play in any games beyond the 82 that comprise the regular season. No team that finishes with a losing record belongs in the playoffs, even though it already has occurred in prior years, long before the NBA decided to add another four teams to negate the long-standing pattern of tanking to get better odds in the draft lottery.
Changing the format to include the No. 9 and No. 10 teams into a play-in sounded good on paper, but losing on purpose for draft reasons will live on forever in the NBA. Just this week, reports surfaced that the Dallas Mavericks, who are in 11th place, may sit starting guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to help ensure getting a top 10 draft pick.
The Mavericks, just last season, were the surprise playoff team, upsetting the defending Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns in seven games to advance to the conference finals. Barely two months after acquiring Irving in a blockbuster deal with the Brooklyn Nets, the Mavs already are looking to the future.
The Jazz need to follow suit, sitting out the usual starters this week in the two games with the Los Angeles Lakers, and against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets. At this point, solidifying their draft position is far more important than any play-in games.
Let the Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Thunder — the order from 7-10, respectively, as presently constituted — comprise the four play-in teams. For individual reasons compared to the Jazz, making any postseason is far more important for these teams.
The timeline for the Jazz, who are in the first year of a massive rebuilding project, wasn't intended to include the playoffs this year. This fact was determined several months ago when the Jazz traded all-stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
Together, the tandem of Gobert and Mitchell was never good enough to get beyond the second round of the playoffs. Now on separate teams — Gobert with Minnesota and Mitchell with the Cleveland Cavaliers — neither will be favored to exceed what they did with the Jazz.
During an offseason press conference after the trades, Jazz general manager Justin Zanik said the purpose in trading the All-Stars was to begin another run with at a championship with a different nucleus. By going with younger players and adding several draft picks acquired in the trades, the intent is to open a longer window at competing for a championship.
Entering the second year of the rebuild phase, the Jazz can have a good chance to draft a solid rotation player. Another two or three wins is not worth falling lower in the draft's lottery order, which will be determined on May 16.
The Jazz have done well at losing games of late, going 1-6 in their last seven games. Finishing 1-10 could leave the Jazz with the fifth-worst record, trailing four teams they mathematically cannot catch (Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons).
Staying with the ninth-worst record, the Jazz would have a 20% chance of getting a top-four pick and a 50.7% chance of staying at ninth. They also could draft 10-12.
