![\"Jaren](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2260624901-e1775519061646.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Utah Jazz center Jaren Jackson Jr. <\/p>\n
In terms of ambitious tanking, the Utah Jazz<\/a> may have set the standard for the past, present, and future in a way that could change NBA<\/a> rules forever \u2014 a truly pathetic voyage of trying not to win games that seems to have driven NBA commissioner Adam Silver a tad bit mad and may force him to change the rules that govern such attempts.<\/p>\n While the Jazz are arguably the worst team in the NBA for the 2nd year in a row in 2025-26, it\u2019s on purpose. And it\u2019s why players like 2-time NBA All-Star and NBA Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson<\/a> Jr. aren\u2019t on the court. Jackson\u2019s season ended on February 12 after 48 games \u2014 and just 2 games with the Jazz \u2014 to remove a growth on his left knee.<\/p>\n While Jackson isn\u2019t playing, he\u2019s making an incredible amount of money, although it\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg of what the Jazz owe him after trading 3 1st round picks to the Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> for the 6-foot-10, 242-pound Jackson.<\/p>\n With no clear future in sight for the Jazz yet, Jackson\u2019s deal and the future money owed on it landed him on The Ringer\u2019s annual list of the NBA\u2019s Worst Contracts.<\/p>\n Jackson is playing on a 4-year, $216.5 million contract extension he signed with the Grizzlies in July 2025. That will pay him $49 million in 2026, $50 million in 2027, $52 million in 2028, and a player option for $53.5 million in 2029, when he will still only be 30 years old.<\/p>\n When Jackson\u2019s current contract runs out, he will have approximately $350.2 million in career earnings.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got career averages of 18 points and 5.6 rebounds, and also 1.9 blocks,\u201d The Ringer\u2019s Bill Simmons said<\/a>. \u201cI went on StatHead and looked it up to try and find out if there\u2019s ever been a better player who didn\u2019t rebound and who just blocked shots and scored, but didn\u2019t really care about getting rebounds. It\u2019s only 8 guys (in NBA history) to averaged 17 points per game, under 8 rebounds and at least 1 block per game and all of them are forwards except Joe Barry Carroll and Kristaps Porzingis<\/a>. (Jackson) is an unusual player in a way that I don\u2019t know it makes him a winning player.\u201d<\/p>\n Jaren Jackson Has Never Played for Legit Winner<\/p>\n Jackson was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft \u2014 1 pick after Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> guard Luka Doncic<\/a> and 7 picks ahead of Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> guard and reigning NBA MVP and NBA Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Jackson\u2019s 1st 7 seasons with the Grizzlies, they only made the playoffs 4 times despite featuring 2 of the NBA\u2019s best young players in Jackson and point guard Ja Morant<\/a>. Just once, in 2023, did the Grizzlies advance past the 1st round, and that year they lost in the Western Conference semifinals.<\/p>\n Jazz Trying to Tank Way Into No. 1 Pick<\/p>\n We are in an era where the Jazz are purposely losing games for the 2nd year in a row to try and secure the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft \u2014 only here again after they missed out on Dallas Mavericks<\/a> forward Cooper Flagg<\/a> in 2025, where they ended up with Rutgers forward Ace Bailey at No. 5 overall.<\/p>\n In 2027, there are multiple players who could change the fortunes of the franchise, including Kansas guard Darryn Petersen, BYU forward A.J. Dybantsa, Duke forward Cameron Boozer, Arkansas guard Darius Acuff, and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Jazz\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Utah Jazz center Jaren Jackson Jr. In terms of ambitious tanking, the Utah Jazz may have set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3785],"tags":[7,423,6,422,427,3972],"class_list":{"0":"post-702294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-utah-jazz","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-jazz","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-utah","12":"tag-utah-jazz","13":"tag-utahjazz"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116360588783309218","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}