Utah Jazz owner hints at big plans the team may have had if they had won the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery.
The Utah Jazz were one of the teams that had a good shot of being the big winners at the 2025 Draft Lottery, with a 14 percent chance at the No. 1 overall pick. But in a shocking turn of events, the embattled Dallas Mavericks ended up defying the odds by getting that honor despite a 1.8 percent chance.
It was an unfortunate development for the Jazz, who shockingly ended up at the No. 5 spot. After finishing the 2024-25 season badly, most projected Utah to be among the top three teams who could get a shot at possibly picking Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper.
Regardless, the fact is that the Jazz will have a shot at getting a good player. This is assuming they do their scouting well and pluck out a credible candidate when the 2025 NBA Draft takes place on June 26 at the Barclays Center in New York.
With Flagg and Harper likely gone when it is their turn to pick, potential targets could be Ace Bailey, Tre Johnson, V.J. Edgecombe, or Jeremiah Fears. But this will depend on who is left after the Mavs, San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, and Charlotte Hornets name their choices.
Would the Jazz have kept Cooper Flagg?
Jazz owner Ryan Smith spoke to Michelle Beadle, Lou Williams, and Chandler Parsons on his team’s approach heading into the 2025 NBA lottery. When asked how he was feeling about potentially getting the rights to the No. 1 overall pick, Smith hardly showed any excitement, explaining he would rather just go with the flow of things.
However, Beadle did throw him an interesting question, assuming the Jazz would earn the right to pick first in the 2025 NBA Draft. She asked Smith about the possibility of trading their selection, which would have most likely been Flagg.
Smith paused for a moment when asked about that. He would answer it by explaining the decision that would fall on Danny Ainge.
“Well, I have Danny Ainge running the franchise who did have the number one pick and did move back for Jayson Tatum which no one saw coming. So out of anyone in the planet, he’s always open,” the billionaire businessman said.
Smith was referring to Ainge’s move in the 2017 Draft. The Boston Celtics traded the rights to the top selection that year for the Philadelphia 76ers, who were picking third. Part of the move included a future first-rounder.
It was a risky move by Ainge at the time. But with all the attention on Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball, the NBA executive knew that the Sixers and the Los Angeles Lakers had their eyes on the two guards.
There was only one thing he was certain off – the Celtics wanted Jayson Tatum. The only other team interested in the Duke star was the Phoenix Suns, the team picking after Boston in that year’s draft.
“There was a story that came out this week about Jayson going to Phoenix. Jayson was never gonna end up in Phoenix," Ainge said on “The Lowe Post” podcast. "Even if he didn’t come in for that second workout with us days before the draft in Boston, we were still going to take Jayson Tatum."
One can only guess what ingenious plan Smith and Ainge are cooking up right now. The Jazz are rebuilding, and a key element they need is a good player to build around.
Flagg would have been perfect. But if the Ainge and the Jazz received a tempting offer, it would have likely included a big name and more. It would have been surreal considering the team is aching to get back on the winning track.
But as Smith mentioned in that interview, he isn’t the type who loves surprises. Rather he is the kind of individual who just takes things as they come and take it from there.