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.