Are the Jazz positioned for a significant late-season swoon?

What are the Utah Jazz playing for right now?

Since the trade deadline, the answer is fairly transparent — the Jazz want to fall in the standings in order to keep the rights to their top 10 protected pick in the 2024 NBA draft, rather than lose it to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Yes, there was a second goal in trading away Kelly Olynyk, Ochai Agbaji and Simone Fontecchio at the deadline — the active development of young players.

That has happened. Look no further than Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh.

Hendricks, the Jazz’s lottery pick last June, has played in eight straight games after playing in just 13 of the prior 52, while Sensabaugh has played in six of the last seven games, after playing in just four of the previous 52.

It isn’t cursory playing time either. Trading away vets has afforded Hendricks, Sensabaugh and Keyonte George real, meaningful minutes — a definite bonus to their development.

That is only a bonus, though. By trading away multiple players who had made the Jazz a potential play-in team, Utah went all-in on the draft, this year and in future seasons.

Currently, the Jazz have the 11th-worst record in the NBA, only half a game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks. If the season ended today, Utah’s 2024 first-round draft pick would convey to Oklahoma City. A worst-case scenario, all things considered.

There is good news on that front, though.

Since the trade deadline, the Jazz have been in a free fall, having lost seven of their last 10 games and 13 of their last 18.

And, per Tankathon and Power Rankings Guru — and really, nearly every available metric — Utah has the second-hardest schedule in the NBA the remainder of the season.

Of the team’s final 22 games this season, all but seven are against teams with records above .500. Only two upcoming Jazz opponents are completely out of playoff races — the Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs — and 10 of the last 22 games Utah will play are against teams that — as of now — would avoid the play-in tournament due to their high standing in their conferences.

The combined record of the Jazz’s remaining opponents is .550 and Utah will play teams like the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets and LA Clippers a combined nine times before the season ends.

Each of those aforementioned teams is currently a top four team in either the Eastern or Western Conference.

Of the teams that currently have worse records than the Jazz, only San Antonio, Charlotte, Portland and Atlanta have difficult schedules to close out the year, the Spurs coming in at No. 5, Charlotte at No. 6, Portland at No. 7 and Atlanta at No. 8. And three of those teams are already guaranteed one of the five worst records in the league.

The Jazz do have an unfortunate lead over most of the teams beneath them in the standings, outside of Atlanta and Houston.

For instance, Brooklyn is currently in line to snag the No. 8 pick in the upcoming draft (though the Nets will send that pick to Houston) and the Nets are 3.5 games behind the Jazz in the standings.

Toronto is in line to get the No. 7 pick (the Raptors will convey that selection to San Antonio) and is 4.5 games behind the Jazz.

Memphis would be positioned to pick No. 6 were the season to end right now, and the Grizzlies trail the Jazz by 6.5 games.

There is no chance at a run at a top five pick for Utah — barring luck in the lottery process. Washington, Detroit, San Antonio, Charlotte and Portland have been too bad this season.

When it comes to retaining their pick this year, though, Utah is well positioned. Atlanta — currently the team with the 10th-worst record in the league — is still very much alive in the play-in race in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks have motivation to win and if/when they pass the Jazz in the standings, Utah will keep its pick. Atlanta did lose to the Nets Thursday night, but the Hawks remain close to Chicago in the East play-in race.

Houston, currently the team with the ninth-worst record, appears out of the play-in race in the West, but the Rockets don’t control their first-round pick this season (it conveys to Oklahoma City). Losing doesn’t benefit them and they are currently only 1.5 games behind Utah in the standings.

Both the Hawks and Rockets have easier schedules than the Jazz too, Atlanta — as previously mentioned — at No. 8 and Houston at No. 25.

Keeping a lottery pick in a draft that has been called the worst in over a decade may not seem like the most important achievement, but even the much-maligned 2013 NBA draft produced an all-time great in Giannis Antetokounmpo, plus an All-Star in Victor Oladipo, to say nothing of the many players who have lasted more than a decade in the league, Olynyk being one.

More and more, it seems that the Jazz will keep their pick and have a chance to find their next star. After the team’s trade deadline moves, that is the best case scenario.