The Utah Jazz have suddenly become the face of many concerns people around the NBA have regarding teams tanking well before the All-Star break during the 2025-26 season. After being fined by the NBA for how they deployed rotations, a new report suggests a Western Conference foe is behind the crackdown.
NBA insider Tony Jones said on Scotty G & Friends for KSL Sports Zone that Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti has been using “back channels” to pressure the NBA about the Jazz effectively tanking by resting starters during key moments of the game.
“I’ll tell you what it is. It’s Oklahoma City going through back channels to try to put pressure on the Jazz to play the season out in order for them to get the pick. That’s what it is.”
Tony Jones on the Oklahoma City Thunder pressuring the NBA over the Utah Jazz tanking
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There’s certainly an incentive for Oklahoma City to see Utah win more games this season. The Thunder own the rights to the Jazz’s first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft if it falls between picks 9–30. Entering NBA games on Feb. 13, Utah has the sixth-worst record in the NBA but is just 3.5 games ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies for eighth in the draft lottery odds.
That matters because if the NBA standings held and any team from 9–14 jumped up into the top four picks following the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery, Oklahoma City would get Utah’s first-round pick. It could potentially mean that the Thunder would have a pair of top-12 picks this offseason.
The NBA and sports media have taken notice of Utah’s strategy as of late. After benching starters Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. for the fourth quarter in close games multiple times, the Jazz were fined $500,000 by the league.
Following a victory over the Miami Heat, in which Markkanen and Jackson sat out the final quarter, Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo said in his postgame press conference that Miami must find ways to win “even against teams that are, I guess you could say, trying to lose.” Days later, ESPN NBA analyst Bobby Marks publicly criticized the Jazz for “messing around with the integrity of the NBA.”
After the $500,000 fine, Jazz head coach Will Hardy justified his decision to sit Markkanen by stating the All-Star forward is on a minutes restriction. However, observers around the league suggest that Utah is trying to lose games to improve its odds of drafting BYU wing AJ Dybantsa.
However, the issue for the NBA is that teams like the Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards, Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets are also tanking. Sacramento is limiting veterans like DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine to around 20 minutes per game, Washington has no intention of playing Trae Young or Anthony Davis this season, and Indiana is slow-playing the debut of center Ivica Zubac.
Utah is simply following the same playbook that other rebuilding teams are deploying and that we saw used by the Toronto Raptors a season ago when Scottie Barnes was kept on the bench in clutch situations. It is the byproduct of flattened lottery odds and teams outside the top three winning the NBA Draft Lottery more often, incentivizing more teams to tank.
