At 18-38 heading into the back half of the season, the Utah Jazz are firmly planted near the bottom of the Western Conference standings-third-worst, to be exact. It's not where any team wants to be in mid-February, but it's the reality in Salt Lake City right now. And with the playoffs a distant mirage, the conversation has shifted from postseason hopes to long-term strategy.
Let’s call it what it is: the Jazz are in the thick of a rebuild. Whether it’s intentional or not, the results are the same. They’re losing games, and with each loss, the whispers grow louder-are they leaning into the tank?
That theory gained traction recently when the NBA slapped Utah with a $500,000 fine for what the league described as “compromising the integrity” of the game. The issue?
The Jazz benched healthy players during competitive matchups, including Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., who sat out the fourth quarter against both the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat. Utah lost both games, and the league took notice.
The situation with Jackson has since taken a turn, as he’s now out for the season and set to undergo surgery on his left knee. That development adds some context to his absence, but the league's message was clear: don’t play games with the game.
Still, this isn’t a new storyline for the Jazz. Over the past three drafts, they’ve been consistently picking in the top 10.
In 2023, they took Taylor Hendricks at No. 9-he’s now with the Memphis Grizzlies. In 2024, they selected Cody Williams at No.
- And just last summer, they landed Ace Bailey with the fifth overall pick, a player many around the league believe has legitimate star potential.
So, yes, the Jazz are in the middle of a youth movement. And in that context, the idea of prioritizing lottery odds over late-season wins doesn’t seem so far-fetched. As sports commentator Colin Cowherd put it, the fans in Utah seem to get it.
“I think the Utah fans, who almost have a collegiate feel because it’s a smaller NBA market, I think they’re in on it,” Cowherd said on his podcast. “I think they know it. I think they go to the games and enjoy it with their friends, but if you ask them if you can get the number two pick or the number 14 pick, they would take the number two.”
That’s the heart of the matter. When you’re building for the future, short-term pain is part of the process.
Another 12 or 26 games of struggle? It’s not ideal, but it might be a small price to pay if it means landing a franchise-altering talent in the next draft.
The Jazz aren’t waving the white flag-they’re just playing the long game. And if their recent draft history is any indication, they’re hoping that patience pays off.