Questions regarding tanking have been put to previous Utah Jazz decision makers over over the last three years, but they’ve mostly avoided making any kind of sweeping declaration.
Instead, Jazz brass has skirted the topic, saying things like, "_we’re in a development phase; we’ll do what’s best for the team in terms of longterm, sustained success; we know that we’re young; we need to give opportunity to evaluate the youth of the team, etc., etc."_
It’s been a palatable and NBA acceptable way of saying, _absolutely we are tanking._
But on Tuesday, when Austin Ainge was introduced as the team’s newly hired president of basketball operations — [the decision-maker with final say in the organizational hierarchy](https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/06/02/austin-ainge-to-have-final-say-utah-jazz-justin-zanik-danny-ainge/) — he declared that things were going to be different under his reign.
When asked about tanking, manipulating minutes, holding out players to keep performances on the low end in order to get better lottery odds, Ainge was crystal clear and did not skirt the subject in any way.
“You won’t see that this year,” he said.
As the question was being asked, Ainge chuckled a bit, and as he answered owner Ryan Smith looked on with a smug and knowing smile.
It was the mic drop moment of the press conference and a change of direction that will majorly impact the team.
Austin Ainge, president of basketball operations for the Utah Jazz, speaks at an introductory media availability at Zions Bank Basketball Campus in Salt Lake City on Monday, June 2, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
The Jazz had previously intended for the tanking to last through the 2025-26 season. With another very talented draft class coming in 2026, the more high-level picks the team could get the better. Also, and maybe most importantly, the Jazz owe the Oklahoma City Thunder a pick next year, but it is top-8 protected.
So, if the Jazz want to keep the pick, they have to be bad enough next season to ensure that their first-round pick falls in the top-8. If the picks falls below the 8th pick, it goes to the Thunder, a team that just last week secured a spot in the NBA Finals.
So is Ainge just saying what he has to say? No. According to multiple team sources, Ainge’s words should be taken seriously. The Jazz will not be tanking next year and if that means they lose a lottery pick to the Thunder, so be it.
The Jazz could still trade away their better players, ensuring that the team is bad enough that they will get a top-8 pick without manipulating playing time or the injury report. But that’s not a guaranteed path. After all, it takes at least two teams to make a trade, but it’s still a possible path.
But even if the Jazz aren’t able to trade away their better players, things are expected to operate differently with Ainge in charge. The Jazz will be playing the players that are on the roster, without restrictions and living with the results.