Game Thread Jan 12, 2026 05:00PM MT: Utah Jazz @ Cleveland Cavaliers

[LogGrad98]

If that's the plan, then why haven't they made moves to win? This team is on pace to lose the draft pick. So the team won't be getting better via the draft.
The Jazz have wasted 3 straight years with trying to win with a bad roster and its just delaying the rebuild. If they don't want to use the draft to get better and don't make trades to get better players what is the end game?
Do they want to be a fringe playoff team? Cause they blew up a team that was already better then that to waste 3 straight years.

This. I've been saying this since the first season after we blew it up and went on a tear to start the season. We had all those assets and they all of them turn into mid-range fringe bench guys, hoping one of them would become the next star. Key starts to show some promise so again, organic growth and no discernible plan. Lots of talk about "big game hunting" while they threw their bullets away year after year. All the hope that a new owner would bring a more aggressive front office was for naught. Same old ****. Can't or won't make moves to swing for the fences, just keep butts in the seats. Almost as if that's what the league asks is to do, so we do it with as little fanfare as possible. Are they trying to alienate the current fan base to justify moving the team to Vegas? Would make sense. But it's exhausting being on the treadmill year after year with no signs of it ending. ****ing **** or get off the pot. When was the last time anyone from the FO talked about plans to get ahead or needs of the team or anything or substance. Or anything like that leaked that turned into anything?

 

[Tanktastic]

The Jazz have wasted 3 straight years with trying to win with a bad roster and its just delaying the rebuild.

Which three years have the Jazz been trying to win?

 

[seattlejazzfan]

Which three years have the Jazz been trying to win?

parts of the last three years. last four technically, but you just asked about three.

 

[r_u_s_t_b_u_c_k_e_t]

If that's the plan, then why haven't they made moves to win? This team is on pace to lose the draft pick. So the team won't be getting better via the draft.
The Jazz have wasted 3 straight years with trying to win with a bad roster and its just delaying the rebuild. If they don't want to use the draft to get better and don't make trades to get better players what is the end game?
Do they want to be a fringe playoff team? Cause they blew up a team that was already better then that to waste 3 straight years.

It turns out that deploying a strategy that is against the interests and motivations of all the coaches and players that actually participate in the games and is also against the rules of the NBA is difficult to make work.

 

[MTS]

It turns out that deploying a strategy that is against the interests and motivations of all the coaches and players that actually participate in the games and is also against the rules of the NBA is difficult to make work.

And even if you make it work you still have to overcome the flattened lottery odds, which makes a top 4 pick barely even a 50/50 shot.

 

[r_u_s_t_b_u_c_k_e_t]

And even if you make it work you still have to overcome the flattened lottery odds, which makes a top 4 pick barely even a 50/50 shot.

so in year 1 and year 2 of the tank, they weren't able to totally overcome the coaches' and players' efforts, and get high enough in the draft. in year 3 they did "succeed" doing that and then failed to get lucky in the lottery. in year 4 we are back to what happened in year 1 and 2.

for me, this doesn't show a lack of commitment to the strategy. what it does show is the limitations of the strategy itself.

 

[HermanG]

so in year 1 and year 2 of the tank, they weren't able to totally overcome the coaches' and players' efforts, and get high enough in the draft. in year 3 they did "succeed" doing that and then failed to get lucky in the lottery. in year 4 we are back to what happened in year 1 and 2.

for me, this doesn't show a lack of commitment to the strategy. what it does show is the limitations of the strategy itself.

They have believed and still do believe that they can build a winning team with Lauri as key piece. If they can actually build a contender with Lauri being a key part of it then they are gonna make a lot of people look like absolute fools around here.

These 4 years have proven than you have to play dirty if you wanna tank properly with a floor raiser like Lauri. They have bet on development instead of min/maxing wins.. and it looks like Keyonte may be cashing in some of those bets.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

so in year 1 and year 2 of the tank, they weren't able to totally overcome the coaches' and players' efforts, and get high enough in the draft. in year 3 they did "succeed" doing that and then failed to get lucky in the lottery. in year 4 we are back to what happened in year 1 and 2.

for me, this doesn't show a lack of commitment to the strategy. what it does show is the limitations of the strategy itself.

year 1 and 2 they only tanked half the year or maybe slightly less. Half the effort... half the result?

We have done light management so far this year. Full tank in the second half looks unlikely to me. Will require full double fisted birds at Silver, Presti, and the league.

 

[r_u_s_t_b_u_c_k_e_t]

year 1 and 2 they only tanked half the year or maybe slightly less. Half the effort... half the result?

We have done light management so far this year. Full tank in the second half looks unlikely to me. Will require full double fisted birds at Silver, Presti, and the league.

in year 1 traded away two all-star guards, a 3-time defensive player of the year, 2 other starters, and several rotation players for a pile of spare parts and future draft picks. they even let the coach bail.

that's a half-tank? it is one of the most spectacular tear-downs in recent NBA history.

 

[HermanG]

year 1 and 2 they only tanked half the year or maybe slightly less. Half the effort... half the result?

We have done light management so far this year. Full tank in the second half looks unlikely to me. Will require full double fisted birds at Silver, Presti, and the league.

I think they have to go pretty deep in the tank. We are out of position to reach playoffs or even proper play-in seeding, and the risk of being 9th in draft order is just too great.

There is a small chance they decide to make a move to improve the roster long term if the right deal is available, in which case the benefit of "getting a piece" could outweight the cost of losing the pick. But if that doesnt happen then they are gonna try and scramble down the standings.

Washington trading for Trae and planning to sit him out most of the year is a direct assist to us. Hopefully they set the bar low enough so we can justify "protecting and healing our star players" with near equal measures.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

in year 1 traded away two all-star guards, a 3-time defensive player of the year, 2 other starters, and several rotation players for a pile of spare parts and future draft picks. they even let the coach bail.

that's a half-tank? it is one of the most spectacular tear-downs in recent NBA history.

Yes its a half tank.... you can go back and look at posts I made at the time saying we were still too good. They exceeded what I thought we would but they traded all stars for other players who weren't bad and didn't move the other vets fast enough. It wasn't something that was unpredictable.

The next year they straddled the line even adding John Collins as a buy low.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

By my own internal tracker we can only win two more games this month, but ideally only one more game this month to very likely keep our pick.

(I'm tracking towards 23 wins which would very likely land us a bottom 6 record which would very likely result in keeping our pick)