The Utah Jazz dropped another one to the Dallas Mavericks earlier today, and while the final score won’t raise many eyebrows, the bigger story is what’s happening-or not happening-on the court. For the second straight game, both teams rolled out severely undermanned rosters. And with the Jazz already drawing a fine from the NBA last season for similar tactics, it’s fair to ask: what’s really stopping teams from tanking?
Let’s start with the facts. Utah held out Lauri Markkanen, Jusuf Nurkić, and Svi Mykhailiuk in this latest matchup.
That’s not just a few guys sitting with bumps and bruises-those are key rotation players, including a recent All-Star in Markkanen. Head coach Will Hardy confirmed the lineup decisions pregame and added that he hasn’t heard a peep from the league about it.
That silence is telling.
Last season, the NBA fined the Jazz for sitting Markkanen late in the year. The reasoning?
He was their marquee name, and the league wants its stars on the floor. Whether it’s for the sake of competitive integrity, fan experience, or transparency for gambling partners, the NBA has made it clear it doesn’t want teams mailing it in.
But here we are again, with Utah essentially daring the league to act.
And this time, the stakes are even higher. The Jazz owe a first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder-but only if it lands outside the protected range.
Translation: the worse Utah’s record, the better chance they keep their pick. That’s the kind of incentive that makes sitting healthy players a strategic move, not just a rest day.
So what’s the league supposed to do? They’ve already tried the fine route.
Utah paid it and went right back to business. Unless the NBA wants to escalate to something drastic-like stripping a draft pick, which would be unprecedented-it’s hard to see how they can truly deter this kind of behavior.
The optics aren’t great. The Jazz aren’t hiding what they’re doing, and they’re not alone. Tanking has been part of the NBA landscape for years, and while the league has tried to curb it with flattened lottery odds and anti-rest policies, teams with long-term goals will always find ways to game the system.
What’s different here is how open it’s become. Utah isn’t just resting one player-they’re sitting multiple contributors in back-to-back games against a fellow lottery dweller.
That’s going to draw attention, and likely another fine. But unless the league changes the rules or raises the stakes, it’s hard to imagine that fine changing anything.
The Jazz are playing the long game. They’re trying to avoid handing over a valuable pick to a Western Conference rival, and they’re willing to absorb some short-term heat to do it.
If that means Markkanen only plays a few more games than he did last season, so be it. The goal is clear: bottom out just enough to keep that pick.
And once that’s secure? Don’t be surprised if things shift.
Utah doesn’t want to be in this position again next year. This is the hangover from a team that overachieved after a teardown, then found itself stuck between competing and rebuilding.
They’re trying to reset the clock.
But in the meantime, expect the league to step in again. Another fine feels inevitable.
The question is-what, if anything, will it accomplish? Because if the Jazz are willing to pay the price to protect their future, the NBA may need more than a slap on the wrist to stop it.