Utah Jazz Lock Up Top 6 Pick With Loss To Thunder
Apr 11, 2025, 10:57 PM | Updated: 10:59 pm
Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy (Credit: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Credit: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz dropped their final home game of the 2024-25 season, falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder 145-111.
Svi Mykhailiuk scored a career-high 27 points while Thunder wing Aaron Wiggins led all scorers with 35 points.
Game Blog: Thunder Hand Utah Blow Out Loss
Guaranteed Top 6 Pick
With the Charlotte Hornets sitting at 19-62 on the season, having only one game left to play, the 17-64 Jazz can no longer catch them in the league standings, and therefore are guaranteed to finish with one of the bottom two records in the NBA.
That’s important for the Jazz’s draft lottery odds as they have guaranteed themselves at worst a top-six selection in June’s NBA Draft.
The Jazz have only selected inside the top six five times in franchise history, most recently in 2014 when they selected Dante Exum.
With tonight’s loss, the @utahjazz will have no worse than the second-worst record in the NBA, which mean’s they’ve guaranteed themselves at least a top six pick in the draft.
Jazz have selected in the top six only five times, including the year they traded Dominique Wilkins.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) April 12, 2025
Considering the scarcity of top six picks for the Jazz, they will have to hope they fare better this summer than they have in years past.
The team’s first top six pick came in 1980 when they selected eventual Rookie of the Year Darrell Griffith.
Though “Dr. Dunkenstein” opened his career with a bang, he was never developed into the All-Star the team imagined when picking him number two overall.
The Jazz selected future Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins with the third pick in 1983, but traded him to Atlanta without ever suiting up in Utah.
Deron Williams is by far the Jazz’s best top-six pick of all time, earning two All-Star selections in Utah after being selected with the third pick in 2005.
On this day in 2010… Deron Williams dropped 42 PTS, 10 AST, and the OT game-winner 🔥
Jazz face the Thunder again tonight in a critical game complete with #ATTPlayIn consequences.
📺: 9pm/et on the NBA App pic.twitter.com/HhqneNnHSA
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) April 6, 2023
The organization selected Enes Kanter with the third pick in 2011, but underachieved in his three and a half seasons with the Jazz.
Exum was also a disappointment in Utah, appearing in only 215 games before the team traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Jordan Clarkson in 2019.
The Jazz won’t learn where they’ll be drafting until May 12 when the league holds its annual lottery show.
Jazz Finish Season In Minnesota
The Jazz will now travel to Minnesota to face the Timberwolves on Sunday afternoon amid a 15-game NBA schedule.
Locked into a tight battle in the Western Conference Playoff race, the Timberwolves face a near must-win to avoid falling into the Play-In Tournament.
Between the Timberwolves, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Denver Nuggets, only one game separates five teams that will make up the 4th-8th seeds in the West.
Realistically, assuming the Timberwolves beat the Jazz, I think fans should be rooting for the Pacers (@ Cavs), Nuggets (@ Rockets), and Clippers (vs. GSW) to earn their 50th wins on Sunday.
Timberwolves are almost guaranteed a playoff spot, but Jazz would get the 21st pick.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) April 12, 2025
The Jazz, meanwhile, will continue to have little to play for as they seek to finish the season with the worst record in the NBA.
Both the Jazz and the Washington Wizards enter the last game of the year with identical 17-64 records. The Wizards will close the season in Miami against the Heat, who also have nothing to play for.
After the Chicago Bulls beat the Wizards on Friday night, the Heat are locked into the 10th and final seed of the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament.
Next Utah Jazz Broadcast
The Utah Jazz will travel to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday at 1:30 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.
