Tanking Season? Kings and Jazz Raise Eyebrows with Lineup Decisions Amid Losing Streaks
The Sacramento Kings have ruled out six players ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Utah Jazz: De’Andre Hunter, Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis, and Russell Westbrook. That’s not just a laundry list of injuries - it’s practically the core of their rotation. And while the official report reads like a standard injury update, the implications stretch far beyond the trainer’s room.
Sacramento is sitting at the bottom of the NBA standings with a league-worst 12-43 record and riding a brutal 13-game losing streak. At this point, they don’t need to try to lose - the results have been doing that heavy lifting for weeks. But when you sideline nearly your entire starting lineup against another struggling team, it’s hard not to see the bigger picture.
The Kings are expected to roll out a starting five of Devin Carter, Nique Clifford, DeMar DeRozan, Dylan Cardwell, and Maxime Raynaud - a group that, while intriguing from a developmental standpoint, doesn’t exactly scream “win-now.”
On the other side of the court, Utah has been under the microscope for similar reasons. The Jazz have been catching heat for their late-game decisions - namely, benching healthy starters like Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. during crunch time in close games.
Against Sacramento, Utah will be without Keyonte George and Walker Kessler due to legitimate injuries. But Markkanen is listed as out for rest - and that’s where the questions start to pile up.
Markkanen is the Jazz’s leading scorer, and his absence - particularly when paired with the team’s recent tendency to pull starters late - has sparked plenty of chatter around the league. Utah’s projected starters for this game?
Isaiah Collier, Ace Bailey, Cody Williams, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Jusuf Nurkic. Not exactly a lineup built to close out tight games.
The conversation around tanking isn’t new, but it’s getting louder. ESPN’s Bobby Marks didn’t hold back on NBA Today, calling out Utah’s approach and questioning whether the league needs to crack down harder.
“I think what Utah is doing right now is messing around with the integrity of the NBA,” Marks said. “The ability to sit players, starters, in the fourth quarter, to not call timeouts in the fourth quarter…”
“Orlando won the game on Saturday because they basically rested players. It backfired on them last night.”
“So I think if you’re the league, you’re looking at it like, alright, can we do some gimmicks? Can we alter protections, eliminate protections as far as picks, or can we put the hammer down?”
The stakes behind all this are clear. The 2026 NBA Draft class is loaded at the top with names like Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, and Cameron Boozer - players who could shift the direction of a franchise overnight.
And while the NBA flattened the lottery odds in 2019 to discourage tanking - giving the three worst teams an equal 14% shot at the No. 1 pick - the incentive is still there. When a generational talent is on the board, teams at the bottom often start thinking long-term.
Sacramento’s approach feels more straightforward than Utah’s. While the Jazz have been tinkering with fourth-quarter rotations, the Kings appear to be pulling the plug earlier - sitting key players outright and letting their youth take center stage. It’s not subtle, but it is effective if the goal is to climb the lottery ladder.
Of course, there’s a ripple effect. When playoff-hopeful teams face off against rosters missing half their firepower, it skews the competitive balance. It can shift playoff seeding, impact home-court advantage, and ultimately alter the postseason picture.
So here we are, just days from the All-Star break, and the message from both Sacramento and Utah is becoming clearer: development and draft position are taking precedence over wins. Whether that’s smart asset management or a threat to the league’s integrity depends on your lens.
But one thing’s for sure - tanking season is in full swing, and the Kings have officially joined the race.