The official: Please tank properly this year.

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Personally, I expected us to be bad, maybe not quite this bad, but Ainge said his expectations were the playoffs. We were obviously interested in adding talent, but Ainge was too cheap to pull the trigger. We re-signed Clarkson and added Collins, taking on his large contract in the process. I believe that Ainge felt like Hardy would figure it out and work miracles like he did last year. There were a lot of people that felt like we were a shoe in for the play in this year. There have also been multiple reports indicating we wanted our pick to convey this year.

If you look at Ainge's actions, rather than his words, there's nothing he's done to create a playoff team. I think Ainge is bluffing and he's trying to make it look like the tank isn't being done on purpose. Personally, I expected the Jazz to be the 11th seed in the West. Realistically, they might be 13th or 14th.

The Jazz got THT by trading Patrick Beverly. They got John Collins by trading Rudy Gay. They're not spending real assets. They signed Clarkson to a front-loaded extension that will make his contract more attractive to trade. Olynyk is expiring and will probably be moved. This team isn't even designed to stay intact, let alone compete at the end of the season.

 

[Bawse Dawg]

Jazz looking like a bottom five team.

TWolves looking like a really good team and absolutely filthy on defense.

Everything was just a year late.

 

[FrenchJazzFa]

I don't think tanking is a necessity. We are bad, just give more min to the youngs and we will fight with Portland for the bottom at West. Still don't understand why we did not tank hard last year.....

 

[SoberasHotRod]

If you look at Ainge's actions, rather than his words, there's nothing he's done to create a playoff team. I think Ainge is bluffing and he's trying to make it look like the tank isn't being done on purpose. Personally, I expected the Jazz to be the 11th seed in the West. Realistically, they might be 13th or 14th.

The Jazz got THT by trading Patrick Beverly. They got John Collins by trading Rudy Gay. They're not spending real assets. They signed Clarkson to a front-loaded extension that will make his contract more attractive to trade. Olynyk is expiring and will probably be moved. This team isn't even designed to stay intact, let alone compete at the end of the season.

I was saying this same kind of stuff last year, but I no longer believe Ainge has some master plan. If he was intent on losing this year I don't think we would have been in on Jrue or traded for Collins. Multiple reliable sources confirmed we were hoping to have our pick convey this year. There were plenty of smart people who thought the Jazz would be a play in team at worst, and so I don't think it's unrealistic that Ainge had those expectations as well.

 

[Ron Mexico]

I was saying this same kind of stuff last year, but I no longer believe Ainge has some master plan. If he was intent on losing this year I don't think we would have been in on Jrue or traded for Collins. Multiple reliable sources confirmed we were hoping to have our pick convey this year. There were plenty of smart people who thought the Jazz would be a play in team at worst, and so I don't think it's unrealistic that Ainge had those expectations as well.

I think they want to win but they want to do it right. So they are waiting for the right trade and gathering assets to help with that.

But at this point you might have to make a small trade to right the ship. Having guards play this bad hurts our ability to trade.

 

[fishonjazz]

Alright, I traded Lauri in fantasy, as much as I enjoyed watching him, so that I could fully support letting him milk a minor injury for months. Let’s do this thing

He has been holding that lower back area alot..............

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I was saying this same kind of stuff last year, but I no longer believe Ainge has some master plan. If he was intent on losing this year I don't think we would have been in on Jrue or traded for Collins. Multiple reliable sources confirmed we were hoping to have our pick convey this year. There were plenty of smart people who thought the Jazz would be a play in team at worst, and so I don't think it's unrealistic that Ainge had those expectations as well.

We traded for Collins because it was free salary and they probably thought they could rehab his value to being more than they paid.

We were in on Jrue/Dame, but we didnt do it. Just because they discussed things and got close doesnt mean much. They might have not pulled the trigger becaue they didnt believe they had enough pieces in place.

I find it hard to believe Danny really cared about winning this year if he didnt go out and get a PG, especially when we saw the difference Conley made last year.

There isnt a master plan. I think Danny is just hoping something good falls into his lap and he can go from there. Right now there isnt enough of a foundation to build on, so he is still doing foundation building.

You can possibly get a top 5 pick this draft, trade for a big name player, and sign a high priced free agent and you are a completely different team the following year.

 

[fishonjazz]

Personally, I expected us to be bad, maybe not quite this bad, but Ainge said his expectations were the playoffs. We were obviously interested in adding talent, but Ainge was too cheap to pull the trigger. We re-signed Clarkson and added Collins, taking on his large contract in the process. I believe that Ainge felt like Hardy would figure it out and work miracles like he did last year. There were a lot of people that felt like we were a shoo in for the play in this year. There have also been multiple reports indicating we wanted our pick to convey this year.

Also lots of smoke about tyler herro and jrue holiday.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Right now there isnt enough of a foundation to build on, so he is still doing foundation building.

When teams tank and finally land or develop a top 20 player after years of being terrible, that's generally considered a foundation.

Lauri may not be a #1 option on a championship contender, but to say an All Star and one of the most efficient volume scorers in the league isn't enough of a foundation is straight up bizarre.

 

[outerspacefan]

Right now there's a big pile of things going south for the Jazz.
I'm just going to decide that Hardy was serious about the team being in experimental mode for a good bunch of games until he decides team rotations.
The alternative would be to think Coach has lost his mind, because the levels of absurdity he's throwing out there are just too much.
Let's wait and watch.

 

[HeatCheck]

When teams tank and finally land or develop a top 20 player after years of being terrible, that's generally considered a foundation.

Lauri may not be a #1 option on a championship contender, but to say an All Star and one of the most efficient volume scorers in the league isn't enough of a foundation is straight up bizarre.

As much as we all love Lauri he is not enough to be the sole foundation here. He hasn't even made the playoffs in 7 seasons. It's not a slight on him. This league is so deep even superstars like Lebron and Doncic can miss the playoffs with poorly constructed rosters. Jazz still likely need 2 more foundation pieces. Maybe Keyonte can be one of them.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

As much as we all love Lauri he is not enough to be the sole foundation here. He hasn't even made the playoffs in 7 seasons. It's not a slight on him. This league is so deep even superstars like Lebron and Doncic can miss the playoffs with poorly constructed rosters. Jazz still likely need 2 more foundation pieces. Maybe Keyonte can be one of them.

That's very true. But while we wait for something to (maybe) happen on that front, the clock is ticking on Lauri's prime. That's why I thought Ainge dropped the ball in a major way last season. I know I'm beating a dead horse, but we were able to choose between two paths. Either accelerate the rebuild after a very promising 1st half of the season by going into buyer mode, or flush the season down the toilet by tanking the rest of the way.

We all know which path was taken. And now we're trying to find a way to get back to the position we were at before the trade deadline.

Makes no sense.

 

[Bawse Dawg]

Alright, I traded Lauri in fantasy, as much as I enjoyed watching him, so that I could fully support letting him milk a minor injury for months. Let’s do this thing

I’ll miss you Lauri, we lookin spicy now though

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

We traded for Collins because it was free salary and they probably thought they could rehab his value to being more than they paid.

We were in on Jrue/Dame, but we didnt do it. Just because they discussed things and got close doesnt mean much. They might have not pulled the trigger becaue they didnt believe they had enough pieces in place.

I find it hard to believe Danny really cared about winning this year if he didnt go out and get a PG, especially when we saw the difference Conley made last year.

There isnt a master plan. I think Danny is just hoping something good falls into his lap and he can go from there. Right now there isnt enough of a foundation to build on, so he is still doing foundation building.

You can possibly get a top 5 pick this draft, trade for a big name player, and sign a high priced free agent and you are a completely different team the following year.

But with regard to it being a "stealth tank" type of plan... that is bogus. They may not have been as serious about winning but if you are tanking you don't take on 3/80M of John Collins and try to trade for Dame/Jrue.

I do think DA wanted to make the play in and also may have wanted to the pick to convey (if he could pick outcomes). I don't think he thought it would look this bad... I also don't think he's that butthurt about it, so the more likely move is to tank rather than try and save this year.

It really sucks we couldn't do the last two years in reverse but whatevs.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Good news is I legit think we can be a bottom 4 team without much tank effort. Might already be there. Wizards are an absolute dumpster fire... they are the only team worse than us on defense... and its actually pretty close.

I think Detroit will do some win now type of move as I'm sure they are sick of being bad... but I think Wiz/Jazz/Detroit are the leaders in the clubhouse for the tank jog. Its not a full race but maybe a brisk jog this year.

 

[seattlejazzfan]

yeah, at this point there isn't much of a plan. DA wanted to go for the play in/playoff, but it didn't work out with trades, etc, and I imagine the jazz are worse than the FO though they would be even with the roster as is, so at this point they just let it play out. not an official tank, but they let it play out, the jazz likely get a top 7 pick, hopefully top 5 and if we are really lucky, top 3.

my biggest concern is that once clarkson finds his shot, the jazz start winning some games and we find ourselves in that 8/9 range again.

 

[str8line]

yeah, at this point there isn't much of a plan. DA wanted to go for the play in/playoff, but it didn't work out with trades, etc, and I imagine the jazz are worse than the FO though they would be even with the roster as is, so at this point they just let it play out. not an official tank, but they let it play out, the jazz likely get a top 7 pick, hopefully top 5 and if we are really lucky, top 3.

my biggest concern is that once clarkson finds his shot, the jazz start winning some games and we find ourselves in that 8/9 range again.

Good thing we have three tank commanders. Lieutenant Clarkson gets hot we bring in captain Tucker or sergeant Sexton.

 

[outerspacefan]

<...> Jazz still likely need 2 more foundation pieces. Maybe Keyonte can be one of them.

George won't be what he can be if Coach insists in wasting his time throwing another 3 guards on court around him. Just like Kessler young Key needs to play some normal NBA basketball.

 

[outerspacefan]

When teams tank and finally land or develop a top 20 player after years of being terrible, that's generally considered a foundation.
Lauri may not be a #1 option on a championship contender, but to say an All Star and one of the most efficient volume scorers in the league isn't enough of a foundation is straight up bizarre.

Lauri should have been given a chance (real chance) to play with you know who. Then we would have had a real chance to be fighting for WCF this very year or next at most. And it would have been quick and completely, absolutely for free!

 

[outerspacefan]

Jazz looking like a bottom five team.

If the tank is on they better start to look like a bottom 3 team.