Lottery bound? Jazz want no part of pingpong balls By Phil Miller The Salt Lake Tribune The Jazz are the only NBA team never to take part in the draft lottery, so maybe they just don't know what the pingpong-ball drawing is like. Because Jerr y Sloan and Kevin O'Connor talk about the lottery like it's oral surgery with rusty pliers. Actually, some teams love the lottery. A few franchises -- Cleveland and De nver come to mind -- were made by the lottery. Given the choice of a first-roun d playoff ouster or a ticket in the NBA's PowerBall, wouldn't the Jazz like to try the odds just once? Uh-oh. Stand back. "Absolutely not. Not for a second. Not for half a second," scoffed O'Connor , the Jazz's vice president of basketball operations. "Anyone who thinks Larry [Miller] or Jerry would ever say, 'Well, we're better off in the lottery' doesn 't know our franchise and our people and how we do business." Sloan said much the same earlier this season, insisting that he never would coach for a franchise that was looking ahead to the lottery. It's not just pride and ethics that causes them to say that, O'Connor said, though those factors certainly play a role: "We play hard every night, work ha rd, do the right things for the right reasons," he said. "How could you ever lo ok these kids in the eye if you weren't trying to win just as hard as they are? That's crazy." But as the Jazz head into the final six weeks of the season just 1 1/2 game s out of the final Western Conference playoff spot, O'Connor contends that the benefits of finishing eighth and in the playoffs tangibly outweigh the advantag eous draft position the Jazz would collect by remaining ninth. What would be the difference come draft day? This season, given the weaknes s of the Eastern Conference, that one spot in the standings could mean three or four spots in the draft order. Teams draft in reverse order of their regular-season records, with one cave at: All nonplayoff teams choose before the playoff teams. That means the Jazz, should they miss the playoffs, would be awarded the No. 12, 13 or 14 pick, depe nding on where they finish. But should they make the playoffs, even as an eight h seed, they would have a better record than three or four Eastern Conference p layoff teams, meaning their draft pick would be No. 18 or 19. There's also the lottery itself, and its long-shot chance at one of the top three choices. But the ninth-place finisher has only five chances in 1,000 of earning the top pick, or one-half of 1 percent. That's what's at stake. So what would the Jazz gain by catching Denver or H ouston and making the playoffs? Money. Prestige. Euphoria. O'Connor contends that, no matter the draft bene fits, the Jazz will be better next year and for years to come by participating in the postseason, even if it means the franchise's fourth straight first-round exit. "It would give our young players important experience in a whole new atmosp here. It would mean more games, more learning, more recognition. An opportunity to improve," he said. "It would mean this has been an extremely successful sea son, and that's the sort of thing you build on." The playoffs would bring national television exposure to the Jazz, plus dep osit the income from at least two sellout crowds into owner Larry Miller's bank account. And there could be a payoff when next year's team is put together, to o. "Some of the free agents that thought we were never going to win a game migh t take another look at us," O'Connor said. And just think of the celebration in the Delta Center the night the Jazz, l eft for dead before the season even began, clinched a playoff spot. That's the sort of thrill that makes fans love sports. "We are going to play every game down to every minute, every single night," O'Connor said. "That's our goal. Nothing else." Jazz notes The Jazz placed Matt Harpring, who hasn't played since Jan. 2, on the injur ed list Wednesday, clearing a roster spot. O'Connor would not reveal his plans for that spot, but it allows the Jazz to add another player as early as today. The Jazz, right at the salary-cap limit, are allowed to add only minimum-salary contracts. Center Curtis Borchardt still is a couple of weeks away from return ing, so O'Connor could be preparing to add another big player to the roster. . . . Speaking of big players, the Jazz plan to invite center Ben Handlogten to t raining camp next fall. Handlogten was sent to Phoenix for salary-cap reasons i n the Feb. 19 trade that brought Tom Gugliotta to Utah, but the Suns quickly wa ived Handlogten, who is rehabbing from knee-reconstruction surgery. "He made su ch an effort to stay here, do the things we asked him to, we'll stay in contact with him and help him as much as we can," O'Connor said. . . . The Jazz's sche dule over the final six weeks is the easiest among the teams vying for the fina l two playoff spots. Utah has 11 games remaining with current playoff teams and only six against the NBA's "elite" -- the eight teams with a winning percentag e above .600. Portland has nine against the elite, Denver eight and Houston sev en. --

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