David Locke - Utah Jazz are NOT tanking

[HermanG]

Usually you need to get excellent picks to compete but it is not going to happen. But the Jazz have an unique GM team and a good development program. I would lean into this organization's strengths. Make good GM decisions, more Danny Ainge style trades, and draft guys who can blossom with the best development in the NBA. Maybe we should draft GG Jackson and Sidy and a development project.

Well we do have 4 top 8 picks on the roster (Dunn #5, Sexton #8 and Lauri #7 at under 30 years of age and Gay #8 who doesnt really count) and 2 other late lottery picks (Ochai #14 and KO #13). If we think draft pedigree and talent correlate, we are a pretty talented team lol.

And that is not even including Kessler who is probably gonna hit top 5 in some future redraft... or THT who is outplaying his draft position big time.

 

[whatthe]

Well we do have 4 top 8 picks on the roster (Dunn #5, Sexton #8 and Lauri #7 at under 30 years of age and Gay #8 who doesnt really count) and 2 other late lottery picks (Ochai #14 and KO #13). If we think draft pedigree and talent correlate, we are a pretty talented team lol.

And that is not even including Kessler who is probably gonna hit top 5 in some future redraft... or THT who is outplaying his draft position big time.

We got those guys through trades. So I guess we still have Ainge and JZ and the Jazz can still acquire talent. The biggest factor in getting the talent is still managing this team and it was done without tanking.

 

[Agent#00]

Gotta admit I'm a bit disappointed in these last 2 games. We are not gonna win it all this year and we are losing grip on a better draft pick. Getting high on the draft doesn't mean we need to draft one. We can trade it, package it to get somebody better. Somebody who can make immediate impact next year. Maybe we won't have this same opportunity again. I am all for winning but prefer the route for the greater good.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Tired
Ainge “imma rest Lauri to tank”


Wired:
Hardy “imma sit Lauri to be fresh for the playoffs”

 

[HermanG]

Gotta admit I'm a bit disappointed in these last 2 games. We are not gonna win it all this year and we are losing grip on a better draft pick. Getting high on the draft doesn't mean we need to draft one. We can trade it, package it to get somebody better. Somebody who can make immediate impact next year. Maybe we won't have this same opportunity again. I am all for winning but prefer the route for the greater good.

Gotta remember the Blazers went ubertank last season after AS break and ended up being **** this year again despite Dame playing the best season of his career. Its not guaranteed that you can just flip the switch because you want to.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Gotta remember the Blazers went ubertank last season after AS break and ended up being **** this year again despite Dame playing the best season of his career. It’s not guaranteed that you can just flip the switch because you want to.

That isn’t the problem in Portland though… the coach is *** and the bigs are ***… and that is their problem.

 

[David Stern]

If we make the playoffs with our remaining schedule and our rookies being the reason we’re winning games, then so be it. Six seed here we come

 

[fishonjazz]

Only 2 of those 5 didnt play in 2013-14 season and those 2 joined the tanking effort the following season.

Ya and give hardy all those dudes and we are in the play in tournament lol.
Im also curious if the year that the tank started they traded away a 3 time DPOY who was also multiple time all star and and all nba plus two other all stars plus 2 other starters. Hard to trade all that away and get only complete garbage back in the trades. Almost impossible really.

 

[fishonjazz]

Give up on the tank. Its ded. I hope next game we see Lauri, sexton, and clarkson out there and we get into the playoffs while simultaneously knocking Minnesota out of the playoffs.
Once we are in the playoffs there really isn't a team in the west that is particularly scary. Other than a healthy suns team i guess and even they might need some time to gell. Maybe this rag tag bunch of try hards does something historic in the playoffs.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

One of the most valuable things from this season is discovering who are keepers and what their value is from this roster going forward. That's worth winning some games but not winning enough. We could have easily tanked harder and we could have easily added some more talent to win more. Both of those have value and could have been a decent choice. But there is also value in this option that helps us build better going forward. We still have a million picks to get stars with. We likely still get one lottery pick and 2 other 1st picks this year to do something with.

Not to mention if there is a star out there to get, Ochai is now a legit piece in a trade.

 

[Agent#00]

Gotta remember the Blazers went ubertank last season after AS break and ended up being **** this year again despite Dame playing the best season of his career. Its not guaranteed that you can just flip the switch because you want to.

We are in a lot better situation than Portland and I'm sure DA has a lot to do with it. What we have done with Kessler and ochai makes me look forward to our future picks. These guys are playing like they're top 10 imagine if we got a top 5 or higher. We are going to win a lot of games next year and lauri could be running for MVP. A little chess move from DA and we could win it all.

It's ok to dream no?

 

[HermanG]

We are in a lot better situation than Portland and I'm sure DA has a lot to do with it. What we have done with Kessler and ochai makes me look forward to our future picks. These guys are playing like they're top 10 imagine if we got a top 5 or higher. We are going to win a lot of games next year and lauri could be running for MVP. A little chess move from DA and we could win it all.

It's ok to dream no?

Yeah I also hope we get a good draft pick. Even better if it comes from Minny... but picking at 11-16 range can still help us find guys who Hardy can turn into gold. Would be better to get something like 7-10 range of course but I'm not hating these wins.

Also lets keep in mind that if we get to the playoffs and especially if we upset some top seeded team... the value of some of our guys is gonna skyrocket and we will be a much more appealing FA destination than if we are 12th in the West.