Offseason Question #7: Tank Time-frame

[Inigo Montoya]

The drop in interest in the Jazz in the past few years since they blew up the Mitchell-Gobert team has been noticeable in all corners of the internet. So the question is simple: how long are you willing to go with the tanking and rebuilding process? If you lose interest, will you regain it at some point (presumably when the Jazz are good again) or are you at risk of moving on from the Jazz completely the longer the process goes on?


Prior questions
#1: should Lauri stay or go? https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=2454649
#2: what position are we weakest at? https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=2455126
#3: what style should we play? https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=2455378
#4: who is the keeper? https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=2455576
#5: your top-5 big board? https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=2456314
#6: second draft https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=2457144

[Inigo Montoya]

Personally, I'll stick with the tanking and rebuilding process for as long as it takes. The least interesting team for me is the team that you know even before the season starts where it'll end up, with a first/second round exit at best, and that you'll see the same team with the same ceiling next season too, and the one after that, and so on. It makes the entire regular season and playoffs completely meaningless to me, without even having the draft to look forward to.

[babyjax13]

Fun question! Im fine with however long it takes if we properly commit. This means Lauri needs to be dealt. If hes not, I will probably catch a game now and then, but I just dont see a point in trying to maintain two timelines.

[Catchall]

The Jazz need to score at the top of this '25 draft and the '26 draft. At that point, they should start to ascend.

I'm optimistic about Walker Kessler and Kyle Filipowski being significant contributors going forward. If the Jazz can draft players like Tre Johnson and Cam Boozer, have their 3D guys like Hendricks and Williams (yes, I said Williams), and nice depth pieces like Sensabaugh and Collier, things will start moving.

There's also a chance that by '26/27 the Twolves will effectively lose Gobert and Conley due to age, and lose Reid and Randle in free agency. Hence, their draft picks might start paying off. The goal at that point would be to be an up-and-coming team and draft with other teams' picks.

[Cappy_Smurf]

I'm calling bull **** on anybody voting as long as it takes. We are 3 years in and if the Jazz were to trade away Lauri and Kessler in a total teardown like some people want, we'd likely be looking at a decade at least by the time we draft and develop the multiple stars it would take to build a contender that way.

I think those people are greatly underestimating how hard is to build a contender in Utah.

Fun question! Im fine with however long it takes if we properly commit. This means Lauri needs to be dealt. If hes not, I will probably catch a game now and then, but I just dont see a point in trying to maintain two timelines.

Lauri isn't that old, lol. If Utah drafts Flagg this year, the age differences are not gonna be some great divide.

[Daddy 801]

I voted for as long as it takes. But if Ainge can
not build a decent team in the next 3-5 years he has to go. A team really tanking should have to tank 3-4 seasons tops before they put out a good team.

There is no guarantee that team will become a championship team. But at least a team that’s worth rooting for and you see progression not regression. I would be happy if I was a Houston, Orlando, or Detroit fan. Are they legit contenders right now? Of course not. But at least they are progressing the right way.

IMO we are in year one of the tank. The previous two seasons were not tanking. That was treadmill, not tanking.

IMO we should be tanking this season, and the next season harder than any team. And IF we get two top tier guys we start to build around them. Will we be good yet…nope. But you can at least start to piece together the team so in years 3-5 you get players in the 5-12 range of the draft (hopefully get lucky and move up or our other team picks help out) and hope you get 1-2 more guys to pair with them.

[babyjax13]

I voted for as long as it takes. But if Ainge can
not build a decent team in the next 3-5 years he has to go. A team really tanking should have to tank 3-4 seasons tops before they put out a good team.

There is no guarantee that team will become a championship team. But at least a team that’s worth rooting for and you see progression not regression. I would be happy if I was a Houston, Orlando, or Detroit fan. Are they legit contenders right now? Of course not. But at least they are progressing the right way.

IMO we are in year one of the tank. The previous two seasons were not tanking. That was treadmill, not tanking.

IMO we should be tanking this season, and the next season harder than any team. And IF we get two top tier guys we start to build around them. Will we be good yet…nope. But you can at least start to piece together the team so in years 3-5 you get players in the 5-12 range of the draft (hopefully get lucky and move up or our other team picks help out) and hope you get 1-2 more guys to pair with them.

I agree, this was year 1.

[bkohler]

I’ve always found it funny when people say we’ve been tanking for three years. We tried for two years and pulled the plug right at the end when it was apparent we weren’t making the playoffs.

[Daddy 801]

I’ve always found it funny when people say we’ve been tanking for three years. We tried for two years and pulled the plug right at the end when it was apparent we weren’t making the playoffs.

Extremely weird to me as well. Ainge was showcasing players to hope they would get more value in trades and all that happened was we didn’t get as much value as we should have and we missed out on higher draft picks.

I think to some people if any team chooses to not compete during the year (usually after all star game) they view that as tanking. I don’t consider that tanking. Tanking is a deliberate act from the start of the season.

[bkohler]

I’m excited to hopefully move off of some vets and potentially Lauri and just be ‘bad’ instead of tanking. I get why people have a bad taste in their mouth from this past year. To me if we’re bad and young that’s a whole different thing from sitting our best players.

[Denizfeital]

Honestly, less is more for me right now.

This year was probably my worst as a fan. I skipped every Jazz game and even rooted for them to lose afterward. What's the point of being a fan like this?

If this tanking strategy lasts more than three years, I'm out and will probably just follow individual players like the new generation of fans. I'm already doing it for LeBron James, actually.

[Daddy 801]

Honestly, less is more for me right now.

This year was probably my worst as a fan. I skipped every Jazz game and even rooted for them to lose afterward. What's the point of being a fan like this?

If this tanking strategy lasts more than three years, I'm out and will probably just follow individual players like the new generation of fans. I'm already doing it for LeBron James, actually.

Once the Jazz have even have one top tier young guy you will want to watch again. It’s not about being a great team. It’s about the hope and desire we are improving and not treadmilling. And each season as we hopefully add another young core piece it will be fun again.

At least that’s how it will work for me.

[Hoops Addict]

1 or two more years of tanking is needed to get to a .500 record

[dr0welf]

I don't think you can guarantee a contender with tanking especially with our luck. And I think the front office screwed up the first two years of tanking so we only had this year of a solid tank job. So I don't expect all this tanking to get us really any closer to a contender then we would normally. Actually, I would say losing can be contagious as many teams get stuck in that cycle once they start tanking. I don't think you can keep tanking and keep a fan base or a working group of players; as why play hard if you are not trying to win anything. Tank should be done and lets start building with the assets we have and the youth we have. Tanking is a lazy man idiots way of trying to become good.

Also, you control basically 3-7 years of anyone you draft. That's your window as players will move to bigger markets once they get a chance. Or your dumb @ss front office will trade them. 3 years to train and sign an extension and 4 years on an extension to win a championship. Tight windows without moving any pieces around.

[Inigo Montoya]

There is never a guarantee for anything, but of the options the Jazz have to building a contender, building through the draft seems the most realistic given the fact that they are not a free agent destination and swinging a trade for a superstar is also unlikely unless you fail upwards like the Lakers.

I don't really see what assets the Jazz have to build around other than Markkanen and Kessler. If they are the Jazz's best players, they won't get anywhere. I don't think the tank should be done. On the contrary, I think it has only begun in earnest this season and should continue.