NBA Tanking Rankings: The Jazz have zero shame

This season has crossed a line.

We have seen tanking before. Strategic losing. Soft landings. Quiet rotations. This is different.

A full 10 teams are openly incentivized to lose, and several have stopped pretending otherwise.

The league finally responded this week. Adam Silver handed out a $500,000 fine to the Jazz and $100,000 to the Pacers for sitting healthy players.

Silver did not mince words.

“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition,” he said.

The message was overdue.

Why now? Because the prize is real. The top of the 2026 draft is loaded. Land one of Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, Kingston Flemings, or Caleb Wilson, and you can reset a franchise overnight.

Understandable? Sure. Forgivable? Not really.

Fans of these teams might want losses. Everyone else wants to watch real basketball.

Not all tanks are equal. Some are accidental. Some are half-hearted. Some deserve to be laughed at. Others deserve to be called out.

With that in mind, welcome to the inaugural Tanking Rankings:

10. Pelicans

The Pelicans are not tanking. They are just bad.

They kept their veterans, played their starters, and somehow even got Zion Williamson on the floor consistently. That alone keeps them out of real shame territory.

This is losing the old-fashioned way. Earned. Ethical. Painful.

9. Bucks

The embarrassment here is not tanking. It’s trying.

Having Giannis Antetokounmpo on the roster and still living near the bottom should be studied. The supporting cast has failed him, loudly.

This tank is accidental. But it might save them.

8. Bulls

Chicago started tanking too late and did it weirdly.

They moved veterans, then replaced them with other veterans who are not part of the future. They are playing win-now lineups while pretending this is development.

It’s not shameless. It’s just confusing.

7. Mavericks

The Mavericks sold at the deadline and stopped there.

No egregious sits. No blatant nonsense. Just young players and losses that make sense. After their infamous 2023 tank, they appear allergic to another fine.

For now.

6. Nets

Brooklyn is flirting with tanking without committing.

Veterans sit sometimes. Other times they play. It feels strategic, but not aggressive. Waiving Cam Thomas may actually help the cause more than the lineup tricks.

The losses are coming naturally. No need to force it.

5. Kings

Once the gold standard of accidental losing, the Kings have reached new levels of chaos.

They traded youth, added veterans, started Russell Westbrook, and somehow got worse. They have occasionally sat everyone just to make sure.

Mostly, though, they do not need help. This roster loses on its own.

4. Pacers

Indiana is capable of winning. That’s what makes this stand out.

They played Pascal Siakam heavy minutes in one game, then sat him and other starters the next. That earned them a fine and a raised eyebrow.

With a pick at stake, the temptation is obvious. The execution has not been subtle.

3. Grizzlies

The pivot was clear.

Trading away Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., slow-playing Ja Morant, and letting the kids run wild.

The game against Golden State, where they benched everyone and collapsed late without even calling timeout, felt like performance art.

2. Wizards

Washington is not messing around.

They acquired Trae Young and Anthony Davis and then proceeded to not play them. Lineups have been experimental in the most aggressive sense of the word.

They once played a game with a 6-foot-6 wing at center. Jarrett Allen went perfect from the field. That tells you enough.

1. Jazz

Where do you even begin?

The Jazz are tanking artists. Veterans sit fourth quarters. Timeouts disappear. Lauri Markkanen watches late-game collapses. Jusuf Nurkic joins him.

It earned them a $500,000 fine, an owner publicly arguing with the league, and opposing players openly acknowledging what is happening on the floor.

They even won a game while using the full tank playbook, prompting Bam Adebayo to admit the quiet part out loud.

Utah’s pick likely stays top eight. The odds say so.

But if there is any justice left in the basketball universe, the lottery gods are taking notes.