Austin Ainge: 'You Won't See' Utah Jazz Tanking In 2025-26
SALT LAKE CITY – Newly named President of Basketball Operations Austin Ainge said the Utah Jazz will not be tanking in the 2025-26 season.
Ainge, the son of Jazz CEO Danny Ainge, made the comments during his introductory press conference on Monday at the Zions Bank Basketball Campus.
When asked if the Jazz would prioritize losing games to increase their odds of winning the 2026 NBA Draft lottery, Ainge offered a quick response.
“You won’t see that this year,” Ainge said.
The Jazz finished the 2024-25 campaign with the league’s worst record at 17-65. Despite owning the best odds of landing in the top four picks of the draft, the team slipped to fifth in the lottery.
Austin Ainge on how he views tanking with the @utahjazz:
“You won’t see that this year.” #TakeNote
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 2, 2025
Throughout last season, the Jazz entered games with lengthy injury reports, including sitting healthy players due to rest.
In March, the NBA fined the organization $100,000 for resting Lauri Markkanen against the Washington Wizards for violating the league’s Player Participation Policy.
While Ainge said the Jazz won’t tank, he did not say the team was committed to winning at all costs.
When pressed on the current direction of the roster and how quickly the team plans to exit its rebuilding stage, Ainge didn’t offer a specific timeline.
“It’ll just depend on how these guys develop and what other moves we make, right?” Ainge said. “It’s a hard thing to predict, I think it’s fair to say we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
The Jazz will own their first-round selection in 2026 as long as it falls within the top eight picks of the draft.
If the selection falls between 9-30, the pick will belong to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Barring a dramatic shakeup that adds significant talent to the roster next summer, the Jazz are likely to be lottery-bound once again, but may not be so audacious in their approach.
Behind the scenes, there appears to be little appetite within the organization to see a repeat of last season’s losing methodology and a preference to foster a more competitive environment in which to develop its young players, including this year’s incoming first-round draft choices.
That would mean fewer lineups featuring exclusively young players, which could lead to more wins throughout the season.
However, it’s not an indication that the team is looking to skip steps in its current rebuild, sacrificing long-term championship upside for short-term gains.
While last season’s tanking approach tested the pain tolerance of the organization and its fans alike, it was also a necessity based on the existing talent on the team.
Had head coach Will Hardy played his best lineups throughout the season, the Jazz might have finished with their third consecutive 30+ win season, dropping them to the second half of the lottery, and out of contention for the draft’s best players.
Regarding order of decision making with in the new @utahjazz front office under Austin Ainge:
Ryan Smith said, “Austin will be running the program. He’s got final recommendation to myself on any decisions that need to be made.”
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 2, 2025
Without changes this offseason, the Jazz should once again threaten to win 30 games if Hardy plays veterans like Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Collin Sexton, and Jordan Clarkson, which could imperil their ability to hold onto their top-eight protected draft pick.
Should Ainge choose to avoid repeating last year’s tanking chicanery, while still holding onto their first-round draft pick, he may need to swap the team’s most talented veterans for win-later assets.
With just over three weeks until the NBA Draft, the Jazz’s new leader hinted at a busy first month on the job.
“There will be trade conversations, all these things — it’s a very active time of year,” Ainge said. “So we’ve got a lot to prepare for.”
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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.
