Tanks for nothing: NBA fines Jazz, Pacers for recent 'tanking' efforts

There are two different objectives for teams across the NBA this season.

At the top of the league you have the contenders that are trying to compete for a championship and are playing for playoff spots and playoff seeding. They are playing every game to win. 

At the bottom of the league you have a collection of teams that are going out of their way to lose as many games as possible in an order to position themselves with the best possible draft lottery odds for the 2026 NBA Draft. It is one of the greatest "tank" battles in recent league memory, and involves several teams sitting down top players for the remainder of the season and pulling top players out of games.

The NBA is starting to get pretty annoyed by the practice, and on Thursday evening announced fines to both the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers for recent lineup decisions.

But will that be enough to dissuade teams from trying to position themselves for draft position?

NBA fines Jazz, Pacers

The Jazz are being hit with the biggest fine, losing $500,000, for their actions on Feb. 7 against the Orlando Magic and on Feb. 9 against the Miami Heat. 

The league notes that Utah's two best players, Jaren Jackson and Lauri Markkanen were removed from the games before the start of the fourth quarter and did not return even though the outcomes were still in doubt. 

The Jazz actually won the game against the Heat after nearly blowing a huge fourth-quarter lead.

When Jazz coach Will Hardy was asked after the game how close he was to putting both players back in as the lead dwindled, he said he wasn't. It was pretty clear what the directive from management was -- you need to lose. 

In that particular game, it simply did not happen.

The Pacers, meanwhile, were given a $100,000 fine for not playing Pascal Siakam and two other players against the Jazz even though all of them were healthy enough to play, even in a reduced minutes role.