Jazz GM Justin Zanik in Attendance at Wembanyama-Henderson Game

The Utah Jazz were in attendance to see two top 2023 NBA draft prospects square off.

Top 2023 NBA draft prospects Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson matched up on Tuesday night in quite the spectacle, and ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted this shortly after. 

“One GM tells ESPN: 'It feels like last night will start a race to the bottom like we've never seen,'" Woj tweeted. 

One GM tells ESPN: “It feels like last night will start a race to the bottom like we've never seen." https://t.co/qmiZpjvXcD

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 5, 2022

We don't know which GM Wojnarowski is quoting, but we do know that Utah Jazz general manager Justin Zanik was at the game, so it would make sense if that's who provided the remarks to ESPN. Whether it was Zanik or not, one thing is certain: Wembanyama is one of the strongest prospects the NBA has ever seen. 

With that in mind, and before the 2022-2023 season even begins, teams are already looking to position themselves for the bottom and a chance at getting Wembanyama or Henderson on their roster.

If we do assume that the anonymous quote that Woj cited was Zanik, the Jazz front office will be fighting to keep this a bottom-five team.

On paper alone, this Jazz team doesn’t have the talent to compete at a high level and surely will lose plenty of games. Utah's Vegas over/under line of 24.5 games is probably accurate, although many argue (including myself) to take the over. 

Regardless of whether it's 25 or 30 wins, it would still land the Jazz a bottom-five record. So Jazz fans won't have to worry about the team competing for more wins, but maybe the roster meshes early on, and they win more than expected.

In this nightmare possibility, the Jazz brain trust needs to work harder to lose. Since 1994, the NBA lottery doesn’t incentivize losing the way it once did, and the worst record has only garnered the first pick three times since then. 

So, the Jazz don’t need to compete directly for the bottom spot, but if they want a shot, they have to be bottom 4-5, at least. Tanking is a hard turn from last year, and it might not sit well with the fan base, but these prospects are franchise-altering talents, and even a chance at them is worth the torment for a year.

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Follow Andrew on Twitter @ArembaczNBA.

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