Gordon Monson: The Utah Jazz’s plan for tanking is in a pained state of limbo

Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George and Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid go for a loose ball, in NBA action at the Delta Center, on Monday, March 18, 2024.You know the difference between America’s M1A2 Abrams and the Jazz?While we’re at it: Knock, knock. Who’s there? Tank. Tank Who? You’re welcome.Not only are jokes about tanks and tanking not funny, living through them, or in the Jazz’s case living in them, is a thousand times worse.

The fact that the Delta Center is empty as it’s fallen dark in April just might spill over when the lights flip back on in October. The Jazz and their fans will not only discover the bitterness of being pretty much beaten before the ball is tipped at the start of games, they’ll also know what it’s like to be looked upon as a joke. That’s something most Jazz fans have never experienced, not since the early years when the team first arrived from New Orleans.

However, if the Jazz were going to tank, something they’ve not often done in the past, nor as we see now are any good at, they wasted time doing so, fiddle-faddling around, prolonging the team’s pain by being part-good, part-bad. General manager Justin Zanik avoids the tank word and instead focuses on phrases such as “development of young players.” That digs up another question: Are guys like Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh, even if they bump ahead as the Jazz lose, difference-makers?

But that’s like sitting at the roulette table, hoping the ball lands fortuitously, as is guessing about positioning in future drafts, who might be available at what spot and what it would take to get to that spot.

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