Lauri Markkanen Confirms Jazz Focused on Competing, Not Tanking

Since even before the 2022-23 season began, much has been made about Utah Jazz executive Danny Ainge's purported ultimate design to 'tank' the campaign. When the Jazz jumped out to a red-hot start, those conspiracy theories died down, only to be reignited at the NBA trade deadline when the team dealt away key players like Mike Conley, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

However, since that tectonic trade, the Jazz are 4-2. The players have signaled loud and clear under head coach Will Hardy that they're going to compete and push for a playoff spot down the stretch.

At 31-31, the Jazz currently hold the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. While a big part of securing a playoff berth is how the remaining schedule unfolds for Conference foes, All-Star Lauri Markkanen isn't focused on how that arithmetic shakes out, or the tinfoil-hat theories about tanking for draft position.

“We’ve got 20 games [left] and standings are really tied up in the Western Conference so they change every day,” Markkanen said via KSL Sports. “We can’t really focus on other teams, how they’re playing, or hoping somebody loses. We’re not really focused on that, we’re trying to take care of business every day.”

Indeed, the Jazz appear to be in it to win it. The Frozen Rope's Patrick Byrnes recently examined Utah's remaining schedule and how many of those games the team is actually favored in and came to the conclusion that if things stay on the current trajectory, it'll likely come down to the play-in tournament.

There are unknown moving parts that will change in real-time, but the way it stands today, the Jazz finish the season at 41-41, which is trending to be in the play-in tournament.

The Jazz no longer have the benefit of a deep bench, so a big factor in maintaining playoff relevance will be staying healthy and fending off the injury bug. Let's hope Tuesday night's rematch vs. the San Antonio Spurs, wherein two starters — Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton — have been ruled out, will not serve as a harbinger of the coming stretch run.

One thing we can say for certain, though, is that the players don't want to hear anything about tanking what remains of the season.

“I don’t think it’s our job to worry about that,” Markkanen said via KSL, “so we focus on the court, and obviously, we’re competitors and we all want to win.”

Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe on YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live-stream podcasts!