Loss to Suns further solidifies Utah Jazz lottery positioning
Mar 28, 2026, 10:15 PM | Updated: 10:42 pm
Cody Williams #5 of the Utah Jazz dribbles the ball against Jalen Green #4 of the Phoenix Suns (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The tired legs of the Utah Jazz were exposed in a lopsided 134-109 loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Kyle Filipowski and Brice Sensabaugh led the Jazz with 26 points each, while the rest of the starters combined to shoot just 6-30 from the floor.
The Suns were led by Jalen Green who scored 31.
Jazz nearly locked into lottery position
After back-to-back losses in Denver and Phoenix, combined with a surprising 100-93 win by the Dallas Mavericks over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Jazz are closing in on their final position in the 2026 lottery standings.
With seven games remaining, the Jazz sit three wins behind Dallas and two wins ahead of the Sacramento Kings, who lost to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. That leaves Utah with breathing room in both directions in the standings.
As the Jazz demonstrated in Denver — when they nearly stunned the Nuggets before surrendering a 13-point lead midway through the fourth quarter — nothing is guaranteed until the final day of the season. Still, the picture is coming into focus as the franchise nears the end of its marathon rebuild.
getting out of Brice’s way is an A1 business decision 🤝 pic.twitter.com/IiwTsqslex
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 29, 2026
Finishing with the fifth-best lottery odds would be a monumentally important result for the Jazz. It would virtually guarantee they keep this year’s first-round pick after sacrificing playoff contention over the past four seasons to allow their trade obligation to the Oklahoma City Thunder to expire.
Barring an unforeseen development over the season’s final two weeks, the Jazz will hold a 99.4 percent chance of adding another lottery pick, including a 42.1 percent chance of selecting in the top four of a highly vaunted draft.
If they enter lottery night with the fifth-best odds, the Jazz will have a 10.5 percent chance of selecting either first, second, or fourth, and a 10.6 percent chance of landing the third pick.
Outside of falling to ninth, the least likely outcome is remaining at No. 5, at just 2.2 percent.
The Jazz would have a 19.6 percent chance of picking sixth, a 26.7 percent chance of slipping to seventh — the most likely individual outcome — and an 8.7 percent chance of dropping to eighth.
The latest NBA Mock Draft: https://t.co/u6zCHZUiJQ pic.twitter.com/oOvKOpdxUq
— Tankathon.com (@tankathon) March 28, 2026
Regardless, if Utah retains the pick, it would be no worse than the team’s second-highest selection since beginning the rebuild in 2022, when it traded Rudy Gobert to Minnesota and Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland.
In 2023, the Jazz selected Taylor Hendricks with the No. 9 pick. They followed that by taking Cody Williams 10th overall in 2024.
Ace Bailey was the Jazz’s fifth pick last summer and is developing into the type of player the organization envisioned when it embarked on the difficult process of sinking to the bottom of the lottery standings.
Historically, the Jazz have rarely benefited from lottery luck, having moved up in the draft just once, in 2011, courtesy of a pick acquired from the Brooklyn Nets.
In 2023, Utah failed to jump into the top four while holding the ninth-best lottery odds, and in 2024, they dropped two spots, falling from the eighth-best odds to the No. 10 overall pick.
The team suffered its most dramatic slide last year, when it owned the league’s worst record but fell to the fifth pick on lottery night.
The Jazz also dropped one spot in the lottery in 2014 and 2005, and stayed in place in 2016, 2015, 2013, 2011, 2006, and 2004.
This year’s NBA lottery will be held on May 10, the first day of the NBA Draft Combine.
Next Utah Jazz Broadcast
The Jazz will return home to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on KJZZ, streamed on Jazz+, and heard on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone.
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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.
