The Jazz aren't embracing their rebuild fully for one reason

There's an ongoing belief that the Utah Jazz really won't be that bad this season, despite not making neither the playoffs nor the play-in for the last two seasons. There's some validity to this notion.

Not only did the Jazz elect to keep Lauri Markkanen, but they paid a hefty fee for him to stay. He also signed on a date that would ensure that they couldn't trade him until next offseason at the earliest.

Along with him, they still have veterans who, at this point, help teams who are trying to win, like Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, and John Collins. Sure, they have plenty of youth to develop entering the preseason, but, pending any trades, there's a possibility they may finish around the exact place they have for the past two seasons.

This hasn't proven to be the wrong way to go yet, but one question has remained: why haven't the Jazz fully embraced this rebuild like most teams would after they blew up their squad? Knowing their history, there's one reason.

The Jazz have never consistently tanked before

Even if they don't have a title to their name, the Jazz have mostly set a standard of excellence for the past few decades. Better yet, they haven't really had to tank to get to where they have been in the past. Because of all of that success, they're not really too familiar with tanking.

Both Karl Malone and John Stockton were mid-first-round picks. Gordon Hayward, Donovan Mitchell, Andrei Kirilenko, and Rudy Gobert all ranged from late-lottery to late-first-round picks. Paul Millsap was a second-round steal. Marc Eaton was a fourth-round pick.

They've had high picks before, but they have been few and far between, like drafting Darrell Griffith No. 2 in 1980, Deron Williams No. 4 in 2005, and Dante Exum No. 4 in 2014. They didn't accumulate a bunch of high lottery picks like other teams have tried in recent years.

The funny thing is, the Jazz weren't tanking for Williams going into the previous season. They just had an injury-plagued season that forced them to be bottom-dwellers. Even then, those teams with Williams needed good players around him, like Kirilenko, Millsap, Carlos Boozer, and Mehmet Okur.

The best Jazz teams were built by shrewd drafting and team-building. Also, several of their best players ever played way above expectations. While it hasn't gotten them over the hump, the Jazz have still managed to be a good team despite not having too many high lottery picks to boast of.

So, frankly, this is new for them. This will likely be the most prolonged stretch of losing the Jazz will endure for the first time in decades. They've already found someone who could be a staple of their next playoff team in Lauri Markkanen. Knowing their penchant for building good teams without tanking for high lottery picks, who's to say that they won't have surlier expectations coming into next season than they do for this upcoming one?