It’s been said that in the NBA, you’ve got to avoid the middle. Obviously, you’d like to be one of the best teams in the NBA.

That’s always the goal. If a team isn’t contending, they’re hoping to eventually. 

With that said, a team with no championship odds should maximize their lottery odds. Otherwise, what are they doing? They’ve got no chance of winning a title, and they’ve got no chance of landing a generational prospect, either. 

That’s the position the Utah Jazz are in. This team was competitive this season, but they were never going to win it all.

With that said, they finished with extremely weak lottery odds at the same time. 

Could they fix that situation by moving Lauri Markkanen to the New York Knicks?