Austin Ainge: 'Won't see' tanking from Jazz in 2025-26 season

Asked during his introductory press conference on Monday about whether the Jazz intend to continue tanking and manipulating players’ minutes in 2025/26, new president of basketball operations Austin Ainge offered a succinct response, per Kevin Reynolds and Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune and Tony Jones of The Athletic.

“You won’t see that this year,” Ainge said.

The Jazz held several of their most effective veteran players – including Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, John Collins, Collin Sexton, and Jordan Clarkson – out of games or limited their minutes down the stretch last season. While the team’s leaders might have said that approach was about developing young players, it was more about improving Utah’s lottery odds. That backfired on lottery night last month, as the Jazz fell to No. 5 in the 2025 draft after posting an NBA-worst 17-65 record.

Based on conversations with team sources, Jones writes, Ainge’s vow not to tank in 2025/26 could mean one of two things. While it’s possible that Utah focuses on improving its roster and adding veteran talent around Markkanen in the hopes of moving up the standings next season, it also could mean the Jazz simply double down on their youth movement and trade away some of their current vets who would help them win more games.

Even without manipulating players’ minutes, Utah could very well be the worst team in a competitive Western Conference in ’25/26. All 10 clubs that made the playoffs or play-in tournament are expected to remain in win-now mode, with the Suns, Trail Blazers, Spurs, and Pelicans potentially all looking to break into that group as well. In other words, the Jazz don’t necessarily need to explicitly tank to end up with another high draft pick in 2026.

It’s also worth noting that the Jazz will owe their 2026 first-round pick to the Thunder if it lands outside the top eight. If it falls within the top eight, Utah would keep it and would no longer owe Oklahoma City a pick. That figures to be a major factor working against the idea of trying to move up the standings by adding veteran help this summer.

We have more out of Utah:

• While the Jazz were disappointed that the lottery didn’t put them in position to draft a potential franchise cornerstone like Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper, Ainge said on Monday that winning the lottery isn’t the only way to find that kind of player. “If you look at the playoffs and look at all the best players in the NBA, and how many of them went No. 1, it’s better to have the No. 1 pick,” Ainge said, per Reynolds of The Salt Lake Tribune. “But there’s a lot of other stars that came from all over the draft, and certainly the Jazz have a long history of second-rounders that become All-Stars. So (getting the No. 1 pick) is not the only way to do it.”
• Utah isn’t known as a popular free agent destination, but Ainge believes players will want to come if the team can build a positive culture, like his old team in Boston did. “It’s the same. Honestly, I think this is a great place,” he said, according to Reynolds. “Players want hope. They want to win. They want great culture. They want great coaching. They want great teammates. So that’s what we have to give.”
• The Jazz’s pre-draft workouts to this point have mostly featured prospects they view as second-round picks or undrafted free agent targets, according to Jones. The club intends to bring in candidates for its No. 21 pick within the next couple weeks and potential targets at No. 5 later this month, Jones adds. Besides No. 5 and No. 21, Utah owns the 43rd and 53rd overall picks, though Ainge said on Monday that everything is on the table with all of those picks, so the club may end up trading one or more of them.
• At least one team drafting in the lottery has already engaged the Jazz in discussions about a possible deal, sources tell Jones.