As the 2013-14 NBA season began, the Utah Jazz were viewed as one of the teams bound for the draft lottery and likely a top three pick in the NBA Draft. That was viewed as a good thing since this upcoming draft is beyond stacked with talent. But while they are still lottery bound, they don't appear to be heading for the very bottom of the standings either, which means that they likely will not get a top three pick in the draft. After starting the season 1-14, the Jazz have played just about .500 ball since, with a 15-16 record over their last 31 games. But while this may seem terrible for the Jazz since they are likely missing out on Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins, I will argue why it is actually good that they are winning games, and not losing games to rack up ping-pong balls for the lottery.
The first reason why it is good that they are winning games is the fact that they are winning games with their young and promising players leading the way. This isn't like last season where Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap were leading the way to victories, rather it is the young group of Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks, Trey Burke, Derrick Favors, and Enes Kanter. According 82games.com, that lineup is the most successful unit for the Jazz, which means that the Jazz already have a quality young core of guys to build around. It appears as though the addition of Trey Burke at point guard was all that this young Jazz team needed in order to become competitive for the long haul.
Secondly, the Jazz have already built this team through the draft. At some point, you no longer need more draft picks, but you just need your young players to grow and develop. That seems to be the case here. I mean, what do the Jazz need now? They don't need a point guard, a shooting guard, a small forward, a power forward, or a center. What they actually need is a more quality bench to back those guys up, not another super talented rookie to develop. Don't get me wrong, the Jazz would welcome Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, or Dante Exum with open arms, but they aren't in the same level of crisis mode as the Milwaukee Bucks, who are doing everything in their power to tank. The Bucks need somebody to have hope for the future in, whereas the Jazz already have five guys in Burke, Burks, Hayward, Favors, and Kanter!
Finally, the Jazz are still going to miss the playoffs, which last I checked still gives them a shot for a top 3 pick. Teams with the worst record in the NBA have only a 25% chance of winning the #1 pick, and it isn't any higher than that. The lottery is designed to help the bad teams out, but also discourage tanking in the process. Teams with the worst records frequently get burned and don't end up with the #1 or even #2 pick. Heck, the Chicago Bulls won the 2008 NBA Draft lottery to get Derrick Rose with a 1.7 percent chance of winning!! So if the Jazz go into the lottery with even a 15 percent chance of winning the lottery, they still could win it or at the very least get a top three pick.
The bottom line is that the Jazz should be happy with how the season is going. They're winning games with their young players, building for the future, and still giving themselves a chance to get a high lottery pick. What would better than for the Jazz than to actually win some games, build confidence in these young guys, and in the process get the top pick? That would be the best outcome, and that outcome could very well happen. So while many people around the league and people in the state of Utah are grumbling about the Jazz winning, just remember that this winning is good for the development of these young players who are the future of the franchise. The future of the Jazz is on the court right now and it looks pretty pretty good as it is. Jazz fans really shouldn't be fretting about not getting a high pick in this year's draft unless they know that the next LeBron James is in this draft, which doesn't appear to be the case.
---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord
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