jumpin bean
Well-Known Member
A YEARLY THING FOR THEM
2025-2026 Tank Race Prediction Contest and Current Results Thread
- Thread starter SoberasHotRod
- Start date
For now. We are as far back as we are because we were ****ing around. Gotta keep our eyes on the prize. Still another half of the season to go and we lost whatever margin we could've had.
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framer
Well-Known Member
I mean we are legitimately better, sometimes FAR better than the other teams in the lottery around us. One could argue that being where we are HAS been a tanking masterpiece.
We lead the NBA in total shenanigans. Wouldn't call it a masterpiece (last year Jazz deserve that title but not this year), but we are WAY better than any team below us in the standings.
I cant think of any team with 2 healthy AS caliber guys ever tanking... so this is all uncharted territory.
Tremendous Upside
Well-Known Member
Exactly. The stuff of legends. And not in a good way.
Yowza.
The GSW team that blatantly tanked for the pick that became Harrison Barnes already had Klay and Steph on the roster, fwiw
Jaanipoeg
Well-Known Member
It was rookie Klay and Steph played ~25 games with ankle injuries, but they did also had prime David Lee and a half season of prime Monta Ellis (before being traded).
Pretty good comparison (not making a point, just remembering the year)
framer
Well-Known Member
And they did not tank into the top 4. They barely avoided sending the pick.
I've said this before, but it needs repeating:
The concept of "tanking" is sucking all the air out of a larger conversation on the fact that roster building is a process that takes place over multiple seasons. Teams live in a system where they have to think about asset acquisition periods (which, in small markets takes multiple seasons because free agents aren't flowing in to re-stock your war chest) followed by periods where you spend the bullets in your chamber (e.g. look at Milwaukee right now). You have to get your contract structures and timelines in a good spot, and the war chest filled up as much as you can, before you put your foot down and start an honest effort to the top of league hierarchy.
Right now it makes sense for the jazz to (a) keep artificially inflating their losses (so as to maximize on premium asset [their pick, which is lost otherwise]), AND (b) capitalize on their cap space going into next season (whether that's signing a quality player or using that space to fill the war chest).
TLDR: Anyone who is just discussing (a) is being silly. On JFC those people are mostly crying all the time, so they're easy as **** to identify.
The concept of "tanking" is sucking all the air out of a larger conversation on the fact that roster building is a process that takes place over multiple seasons. Teams live in a system where they have to think about asset acquisition periods (which, in small markets takes multiple seasons because free agents aren't flowing in to re-stock your war chest) followed by periods where you spend the bullets in your chamber (e.g. look at Milwaukee right now). You have to get your contract structures and timelines in a good spot, and the war chest filled up as much as you can, before you put your foot down and start an honest effort to the top of league hierarchy.
Right now it makes sense for the jazz to (a) keep artificially inflating their losses (so as to maximize on premium asset [their pick, which is lost otherwise]), AND (b) capitalize on their cap space going into next season (whether that's signing a quality player or using that space to fill the war chest).
TLDR: Anyone who is just discussing (a) is being silly. On JFC those people are mostly crying all the time, so they're easy as **** to identify.
Yes, but they knew what they had in Steph (he was totally untouchable, and they were definitely building around him). Rookie Klay was pretty great. AND they had plenty of quality players on that roster. Would Steph have played more if they weren't engineering their way to the bottom of the standings?