Utah Jazz: Final week of season lottery guide
Apr 6, 2026, 5:42 PM | Updated: 5:42 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – The final week of the Utah Jazz season has arrived, and several storylines remain worth following before it wraps up.
With three games left, here is what is still at stake for the Jazz and what fans should watch as the season closes.
Related: Utah Jazz guaranteed no worse than fifth-best lottery odds
Utah Jazz Lottery odds are largely locked in
Before diving too deeply into the details, it is important to note that the Jazz have likely already achieved one of their primary goals this season.
With Sunday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and a Dallas Mavericks win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Jazz are assured no worse than a 99.4 percent chance of retaining their top-eight protected first-round draft pick.
Adding another lottery talent was a critical conclusion to the rebuild, and barring an unexpected outcome, the Jazz will keep their pick.
Odds could still improve
If fans want complete certainty that the Jazz will keep the pick, they should hope the Sacramento Kings play well to close the season.
Entering the final stretch, the Jazz and Kings both sit at 21-58, tied for the fourth-worst record in the NBA.
Lottery sim on National Championship day https://t.co/FXkXbE02qc
I really don’t want cap circumvention Ballmer getting the #5 pick. pic.twitter.com/MWq9x3QLIB
— Tankathon.com (@tankathon) April 6, 2026
If the Jazz win more games than Sacramento to close the season, they would fall to the fifth-best lottery odds and carry a 0.6 percent chance of losing the pick.
If the Kings finish with more wins than the Jazz, Utah can drop no lower than the eighth pick in the lottery, guaranteeing they will retain their selection.
What happens if two lottery teams tie?
If the Jazz and Kings finish with identical records, their lottery odds would be combined and split evenly.
Unlike the playoffs, regular-season head-to-head results do not serve as a tiebreaker.
Instead, the NBA would conduct a random drawing (coin flip) shortly after the regular season ends. That drawing would determine draft order between the teams if neither moves into the top four during the lottery.
Regardless of the lottery outcome, if the Jazz finish tied with the Kings for the fourth-worst record and win the coin flip tiebreaker, they would be guaranteed to keep their 2026 pick.
If the Jazz lose the coin flip, they would still carry a 0.6 percent chance of losing the pick on lottery night.
Could a third team enter the mix?
With one week remaining, the Brooklyn Nets sit two wins behind the Jazz and Kings and could still catch them.
If Brooklyn ties Utah and Sacramento, the three teams would again combine and evenly split their lottery odds. A random drawing would determine draft position if none of the teams land a top-four pick.
Remaining schedules
The Jazz and Kings each have three games left, while the Nets have four remaining. That gives Brooklyn more opportunities to pile up wins and potentially create a three-way tie.
Based on opponent win percentage, the Nets have the easiest remaining schedule, followed by the Jazz and then the Kings.
Jazz schedule
- at New Orleans Pelicans
- vs. Memphis Grizzlies
- at Los Angeles Lakers
Kings schedule
- at Golden State Warriors
- vs. Golden State Warriors
- at Portland Trail Blazers
Nets schedule
- vs. Milwaukee Bucks
- vs. Indiana Pacers
- at Milwaukee Bucks
- at Toronto Raptors
What should fans root for?
Fans hoping for guaranteed clarity entering the offseason should root for the Jazz to lose their final three games, while Sacramento and Brooklyn win as many as possible.
The Kings need only one more win than the Jazz to ensure the pick stays in Utah. The Nets would need two more wins than the Jazz to force a tie.
Do other games matter?
While the Jazz, Kings, and Nets will ultimately determine the lottery standings, several other teams could influence those outcomes.
For instance, if Utah and Sacramento are tied entering the final game of the season, fans should hope the Lakers, Utah’s opponent, still have something to play for, while Portland, Sacramento’s opponent, has locked in its position.
In that scenario, Utah may have an easier path to a loss, while Sacramento may be more likely to win.
It’s the final week of the NBA regular season – and there’s still so much at stake.
19 of the 20 postseason teams have yet to clinch their seed.
Check out all the seeding possibilities ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ZIaNWGQYHP
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 6, 2026
Regarding Los Angeles, Jazz fans should root for both the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets to remain within one game of the Lakers entering Sunday’s finale, giving the LeBron James-led roster incentive to play competitively.
As for Portland, fans should hope the Trail Blazers are either two games ahead of or two games behind the Los Angeles Clippers entering Sunday.
The Clippers and Blazers meet Friday in the penultimate game. That result will determine the tiebreaker.
If the Clippers win Friday and hold a one-game edge entering the final day, Portland would be locked into its position.
If Portland wins Friday and gains a one-game lead, both teams would be locked into their seedings.
Clippers schedule
- vs. Dallas Mavericks
- vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
- at Portland Trail Blazers
- vs. Golden State Warriors
Blazers schedule
- at Denver Nuggets
- at San Antonio Spurs
- vs. Los Angeles Clippers
- vs. Sacramento Kings
The NBA Draft Lottery will be held Sunday, May 10, in Chicago.
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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.
