Game Thread Dec 23, 2025 07:00PM MT: Memphis Grizzlies @ Utah Jazz

[KqWIN]

Pretty much every team @framer has listed as a losing culture team is a team that tried to win but isn't good at it. Seems like "winning culture" doesn't have anything to do with the choice to give more minutes to the young guys, developing young guys around vets, or tanking.

 

[fishonjazz]

I'm not even talking about this year. All of those teams have underperformed at some level for quite a while. Some of it is ownership, and by extension coaching. Like I said, there are some situations a good coach with options will not touch. Another piece is fan apathy.

The thing is, I can see players on these teams that I WOULD want on the Jazz, or at least I see how they would have been developed differently. I see a lot of turnover and impatience and "mid-star" chasing.

I think the Jazz have put a lot of stock into "throwing the switch!" next year. What if we try that and we are Portland? I'd like to think that we have been built better, but you never know. I don't know what that looks like if it persists 2 or 3 years after the tank. I don't believe the market is such that it can withstand a solid decade of losing. My fandom would probably not survive.

I look over at New York and I wonder if being a treadmill team with assets was always the better play.

I think getting a big time talent in this draft is a big part of not being Portland to be honest.

I do think that I would prefer to not have blown up the team back when we had gobert and Mitchell and kept trying to win but we are where we are now. Makes sense to me to tank this one more year.

If we try to be good after this year and still suck forever then that will suck.

But I don't think winning a few more games this season and giving away our pick will be the thing that catapults us to not sucking.

 

[NUMBERICA]

But I don't think winning a few more games this season and giving away our pick will be the thing that catapults us to not sucking.

On the contrary, wining a few more games might be the relative equivalent to catapulting us to sucking.