Outside of drafting two hall-of-famers in a row in John Stockton and Karl Malone, the Utah Jazz jumping to #2 in the 2026 could be considered the second-best stroke of luck in franchise history. But it’s so much more than simply jumping in the lottery. If we’re just looking at that in a vacuum, it probably doesn’t have more gravitas than drafting Deron Williams #3 overall and getting Carlos Boozer in restricted free agency or Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert being drafted somewhat close together.
It’s the moves that led up to jumping to #2 that make it that much more impactful. Those moves included:
- Keeping Lauri Markkanen while still managing a high-lottery finish.
- Drafting Keyonte George at #16 and developing him into a rising star.
- Trading non-Jazz picks acquired during the rebuild for Jaren Jackson Jr.
- Trading for Walker Kessler (and potentially re-sizing)
- Drafting Ace Bailey at #5.
When you add everything up, adding the #2 pick to this series of building blocks has a chance to be the final piece to a championship core.
Before the season started, Darryn Peterson was the consensus #1 pick by most draft experts. Even this week, Jonathan Givony had him at #1 still, despite his up-and-down season at Kansas.
Therefore, if the Washington Wizards end up picking AJ Dybantsa, then the Jazz come out of the draft with a #1-caliber player. The laziest trade idea making the rounds is to trade Ace Bailey and the #2 pick for the #1 pick. But if you have Darryn Peterson on the board to be picked up for nothing, why would you give up the assets that led to you having one of the top up-and-coming rosters in the league? On top of that, the fact that the Wizards might be willing to trade the #1 pick to the Jazz for #2 tells you everything you need to know. You wouldn’t dream of trading the #1 pick if you didn’t think the #2 pick was just as valuable.
Utah is going to end up with a franchise-altering talent in this draft without moving up, and so, no, the Utah Jazz should not trade up. They have done the necessary work already to put them in this position. They’ll keep their top prospect in Ace Bailey and keep building one of the best young rosters in the NBA.
Sorry, Wizards fans, the Utah Jazz are absolutely fine where they are. The #2 pick is just as valuable as the #1 and the Jazz come out the winner regardless of what happens this draft.
