The Utah Jazz stay embroiled in one of many extra notable rebuilds within the NBA.
After recording one of the best file within the league in the course of the 2020-21 season, the Jazz have steadily gotten worse and worse 12 months after 12 months, a decline purposefully accelerated by the trades of Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanović, amongst many others, to not talked about some strategic sitting of gamers.
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Final season, Utah completed with the worst file within the NBA due to a league-low 17 wins.
The objective of the teardown was finally fairly easy — to offer the Jazz one of the best statistical likelihood doable to seek out at the least one franchise cornerstone participant (almost definitely via the NBA draft however not essentially) who can be adequate to guide the franchise to its first NBA title.
That search hasn’t gone all that effectively, although. Not but anyway, and barring the Jazz buying and selling their wealth of draft belongings for a prime 10 star in league this summer season, they’re very a lot nonetheless within the rebuilding stage.
How lengthy the rebuild will take is anybody’s finest guess — guess being the operative phrase — however the Jazz aren’t the primary franchise to backside out within the hope that it could actually land elite expertise(s) with a purpose to in the future win a title.
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Loads of groups have tried to drag off tanking, some in spectacular methods. Can current rebuilds be instructive as to what the longer term holds for Utah? Can some semblance of a timeline be created for the Jazz by taking a look at what has occurred to different rebuilding groups?
Let’s have a look.
Who‘ve been the tanking groups?
Utah Jazz ahead Brice Sensabaugh (28) tries to get the ball away from Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) throughout an NBA recreation on the Delta Middle in Salt Lake Metropolis on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jazz misplaced 134-106. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret Information
During the last 20 years, 16 totally different groups have completed with the worst file within the NBA at the least as soon as.
These groups are:
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Detroit Pistons (2023 and 2024).
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Houston Rockets (2021 and 2022).
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Golden State Warriors (2020).
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Brooklyn/New Jersey Nets (2010 and 2017).
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Philadelphia 76ers (2016).
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Minnesota Timberwolves (2011 and 2015).
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Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets (2012).
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Memphis Grizzlies (2007).
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Portland Path Blazers (2006).
Not each a type of groups purposefully completed because the worst within the NBA. Accidents led to the Warriors’ fall off in 2020, as an illustration. There have additionally been loads of different groups which have tanked, in the meantime, albeit not effectively sufficient to complete with the worst file within the league.
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Look no additional than the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder — who had back-to-back seasons with not more than 24 wins as not too long ago as 2021 and 2022 — or the Washington Wizards, who’ve didn’t win greater than 18 video games in every of the final two seasons.
Listed here are the groups over the past 20 years who’ve gained 25 or fewer video games in consecutive seasons, demonstrating a transparent dedication to being unhealthy:
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Charlotte Hornets (twice)
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Washington Wizards (twice)
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Cleveland Cavaliers (twice)
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Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder (as soon as)
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Minnesota Timberwolves (twice)
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Cleveland Cavaliers (as soon as)
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Philadelphia 76ers (as soon as)
There isn’t excellent analogue for the Jazz proper now and there by no means might be. There are too many components to crew constructing (who owns the crew, who’s within the entrance workplace, who was on the crew forward of the tank, how a lot did the crew get for its finest belongings when it offered, and so on…) for there to ever be a really excellent analogue.
However these are the groups which have completed with the worst file within the NBA at the least as soon as throughout the identical span by which they gained lower than 25 video games in consecutive seasons (which the Jazz are largely anticipated to do in 2025-26):
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How lengthy did it take to go from being one of the best at dropping to profitable?
Philadelphia 76ers heart Joel Embiid (21) drives the ball to the basket whereas being guarded by Utah Jazz heart Walker Kessler (24) throughout a NBA recreation on the Delta Middle in Salt Lake Metropolis on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. | Brice Tucker, Deseret Information
Every of the above franchises — since their forays into critical tanking that led them to be the worst crew within the league — have made the playoffs since at the least as soon as.
Not one of the aforementioned premier tanking groups (a bunch the Jazz seem like a shoe-in to affix this upcoming season) have gained a NBA title since being the worst crew within the league, although.
The closest any of them have gotten was Phoenix, which misplaced to Milwaukee within the Finals in 2020-21.
Philadelphia famously tanked and even drafted an MVP (Joel Embiid), however the 76ers haven’t superior out of the second spherical of the playoffs.
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Going from dropping to profitable has, in lots of circumstances, been a protracted course of, too. Let’s go down the listing:
Detroit
The Pistons have been the worst crew within the NBA in each the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. After 5 straight seasons of profitable 23 or fewer video games, although, Detroit grew bored with dropping (tanking hadn’t offered the crew with sufficient prime quality prospects) and after signing some succesful NBA gamers like Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr., to call a pair, the Pistons went from worst within the league to the playoffs in a single season.
It was a dramatic turnaround, buoyed most by a star flip by former No. 1 general decide and now All-Star Cade Cunningham, although few consider Detroit is near contending for a NBA title, even with Cunningham on the roster. In numerous methods, Detroit didn’t see its tank via and misplaced the abdomen for dropping.
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Houston
The Rockets have been the worst crew within the NBA in back-to-back seasons, 2020-21 and 2021-22. The crew additionally suffered two extra postseason-less seasons the 2 years after that.
The Rockets are actually primed to contend within the Western Convention although after accumulating some critical younger expertise — Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Reed Sheppard, Tari Eason and Alperen Şengün — whereas concurrently buying and selling for or signing key veterans.
Brooklyn
The Nets have been terrible for 3 straight seasons, topping out at 28 wins, a byproduct of buying and selling every little thing away for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.
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And although the crew made the playoffs solely two years faraway from being the worst crew within the NBA (which is among the most spectacular feats in current NBA historical past), the Nets have been an upstart and not using a actual future, at the least not till the crew signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free company after which buying and selling for James Harden.
Phoenix
The Suns skilled a ten season postseason drought in the course of the 2010s, however weren’t actually terrible till 2015. Phoenix was the worst crew within the NBA in 2018, which led to the choice of Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 general decide.
Loopy as it would sound, he was removed from the worst decide the Suns made throughout their struggles (keep in mind Josh Jackson and Dragan Bender?).
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Ayton, together with Devin Booker and Chris Paul (acquired in a commerce with the Thunder) bought the Suns to the Finals three seasons after the crew was the worst within the NBA, but it surely took six seasons after the crew actually began tanking in earnest.
New York
The Knicks went seven seasons with out posting a profitable file over the last decade, and through their prime tanking years — 2018, ‘19 and ‘20 — the crew gained at most 29 video games, bottoming out with 17 wins in 2018-19.
Tanking didn’t particularly assist the Knicks, whose first spherical draft picks in the course of the struggles have been Frank Ntilikina, Kevin Knox, RJ Barrett and Obi Toppin.
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The Knicks escaped from dropping largely for 2 causes — the hiring of Tom Thibodeau as head coach and the signing of Jalen Brunson in free company.
These two strikes, and subsequent ones just like the commerce that introduced in OG Anunoby, allowed the Knicks to go from worst crew within the league to the playoffs in simply two seasons.
Memphis
The Grizzlies have been terrible within the mid-2000s, unhealthy sufficient to win fewer than 25 video games in three consecutive seasons and safe three prime 5 picks within the draft.
A kind of draft picks was Mike Conley, one other Kevin Love (although he was traded for OJ Mayo) and the final Hasheem Thabeet.
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It took a deft commerce for Zach Randolph and a free company signing of Tony Allen, in addition to a celebrity flip from former second spherical decide Marc Gasol, for the Grizzlies to cease dropping and begin profitable.
The Grizzlies made the turnaround in simply two seasons (they gained 24 video games in 2008-09 and in 2010-11 they performed within the Western Convention semifinals) however so much went proper to make that occur.
Sacramento
The Kings are type of the NBA horror story in the case of tanking. Sacramento gained fewer than 30 video games in seven straight seasons, lacking out many times on prime picks, with the crew’s lottery choices failing to pan out as a rule.
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The 12 months the Kings have been the worst crew within the NBA they chose Tyreke Evans No. 4 general.
In subsequent drafts, they took Demarcus Cousins (No. 5), Bismack Biyombo (at No. 7, although he grew to become Jimmer Fredette), Thomas Robinson (No. 5), Ben McLemore (No. 7), Nik Stauskas (No. 8), Willie Cauley-Stein (No. 6), Marquese Chriss (No. 8, although he grew to become Bogdan Bogdanovic), De’Aaron Fox (No. 5) and Marvin Bagley (No. 2).
Of these gamers, solely Fox helped the Kings finish a 16-year playoff drought.
After bottoming out, Sacramento was caught as a nasty to mediocre crew for over a decade, and the Kings have since topped out as a primary spherical playoff crew within the West.
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Orlando
Proper now the Orlando Magic are thought of one of many extra promising younger groups within the Jap Convention, if not the NBA, and tanking did assist them get to the place they’re now, at the least this most up-to-date time round.
However actually bottoming out, which the Magic did instantly after Dwight Howard left for the Los Angeles Lakers, didn’t. The Magic have been the worst crew within the NBA in the course of the 2012-13 season, which netted them Victor Oladipo within the draft.
The subsequent 12 months Orlando gained simply 23 video games and took Aaron Gordon within the draft, after which the 12 months after that the crew gained 25 video games and chosen Mario Hezonja.
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Two of these draft picks labored out, although largely not for the Magic, and it took six years after the Magic took Oladipo with the No. 2 decide for the crew to make it to the playoffs (with a 42-40 file).
The Magic have confirmed the case for and towards tanking. It has labored for the crew not too long ago, bringing in franchise-changers like Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, but it surely didn’t actually work the time earlier than that.
Philadelphia
Maybe essentially the most well-known tanking franchise in NBA historical past, they usually didn’t even actually see all of it the way in which to fruition.
Beneath then-general supervisor Sam Hinkie, the 76ers utterly bottomed out and gained fewer than 30 video games in 4 consecutive seasons, with a low win complete of 10 wins. “The Course of” was supposed to make sure the 76ers a star or two who could lead on the franchise to a championship.
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What truly occurred was the 76ers hit on one and a half of their prime 5 draft picks (Embiid and Ben Simmons) whereas lacking badly on fairly of few of the others (Markelle Fultz and Jahlil Okafor, most notably).
As soon as the 76ers began their tank, it took six seasons to return to the playoffs, and regardless of typically having a crew thought of probably the greatest within the Jap Convention, the 76ers haven’t confirmed to be true title contenders in the course of the Embiid period.
Charlotte
Be it because the Bobcats or the Hornets, tanking hasn’t actually labored out a lot for Charlotte.
The franchise tanked the toughest within the mid-2010s (the crew gained simply seven video games in 2011-12) and that netted the crew Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Cody Zeller as prime draft picks.
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Behind Kemba Walker, Charlotte did handle to make the playoffs solely two seasons after profitable seven video games however the crew topped out as a primary spherical crew.
One other spherical of tanking the final three seasons hasn’t turned out significantly better for the Hornets, although Brandon Miller, Tidjane Salaün and Kon Knueppel might nonetheless become franchise-changing gamers, although it hasn’t occurred but.
Charlotte is an instance of how damaging not committing to tanking — after tanking — may be. The crew hasn’t been in a position to hit on draft picks regardless of being unhealthy after which has misplaced the abdomen for dropping too quickly.
How lengthy will the Utah Jazz’s rebuild take?
Utah Jazz ahead Ace Bailey (19) places up a shot throughout an NBA Salt Lake Metropolis Summer time League recreation between the Utah Jazz and the Memphis Grizzlies on the Jon M. Huntsman Middle on the campus of the College of Utah in Salt Lake Metropolis on Monday, July 7, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret Information
Few, if any, of the premier tanking groups within the final 20 years within the NBA have been in a position to utterly backside out after which dig themselves out utilizing the draft alone. Key veteran signings or trades have been very important, and normally solely after years of improvement (dropping seasons) for drafted prospects.
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Proper now, the Jazz are nonetheless very early of their rebuild. The crew could have a future centerpiece (or constructing block) in Ace Bailey, however he hasn’t performed in an actual NBA recreation and it probably will take a few seasons — finest case situation — for the 18-year outdated to develop right into a franchise cornerstone.
Apart from Bailey there isn’t a younger prospect on the Jazz who’s positioned — proper now — to be a starter on a championship contender, not to mention a playoff crew, although Walker Kessler and Kyle Filipowski might ultimately show to be that.
There may be situation whereby the Jazz land a celebrity expertise within the subsequent draft and each he and Bailey become stars, perhaps even rapidly whereas being mentored by Lauri Markkanen and no matter veterans Utah inevitably brings in when the time is true.
However proper now the Jazz actually solely have Bailey and don’t seem near prepared to surrender on tanking. Based mostly on that and what has occurred to the groups which have tried bottoming out over the past 20 years, at the least two extra years of dropping — playoff-less seasons — seem probably for Utah, if no more.
