Utah Jazz Magic Number and Draft Lottery Tracker

There's still a lot to work through across the league in the days to come before things become final on the lottery front.

However, while things are still fluid, let's take a look at where Utah currently stands in the mix of the chaos collecting at the bottom of the standings:

1. Washington Wizards (17-63)
2. Indiana Pacers (19-61)
3. Brooklyn Nets (20-60)
4. Utah Jazz (21-59)*
5. Sacramento Kings (21-59)*
6. Memphis Grizzlies (25-55)*
7. Dallas Mavericks (25-55)*
8. Atlanta Hawks, via NOP (26-54)
9. Milwaukee Bucks (31-49)*
10. Chicago Bulls (31-49)*

Utah's plugged in tied for the fourth-best lottery odds with the Sacramento Kings; a maneuver they've managed to make within the last week, thanks to the Kings winning three of their last 10 games.

If able to stay at four, it allows for the Jazz to have a 12.5% chance of claiming the number-one pick, a 48.1% chance of staying within the top-four picks, and a 100% chance of retaining their pick as opposed to losing it to the OKC Thunder, who currently hold Utah's top-eight protected first rounder.

It's a great place for the Jazz to be after a long season of losses, but there's even more room for them to move up further.

The Magic Number for Utah to Keep Moving Up

The magic number Utah needs to be zeroing in on from now until the end of the regular season is 61.

That's the total amount of losses the Jazz need in order to at least stay tied for the fourth-best odds in the lottery; if not, move up even further.

How far they could move up, though, is dependent on what the Nets and Pacers do in front of them.

In the event Indiana wins their next two games vs. the Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons to reach 21 wins, or the Nets win one of their next couple of matchups vs. the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors, that can give the Jazz an opening to tie either for their respective spots on the board.

Both outcomes are a bit unlikely, but it gives the Jazz a puncher's chance to leap into a tie for the third-best odds, or even a tie for second in a best-case scenario, so long as Utah can take care of business against the Memphis Grizzlies and LA Lakers.

In the event of a two-way tie, the two teams will be subject to a coin flip in order to determine who gets the edge come time for the lottery draw––making it even more of a fascinating finish to watch unfold to see just where the Jazz will end up come time for the lottery later next month.