Derrick Favors Remains The Utah Jazz’s Last Puzzle Piece

The Utah Jazz had been without Derrick Favors for a month as they geared up for the playoffs. What were they missing with him out, and what will he add to their lineup?

Over the past two seasons, the Utah Jazz have been racked by injury, perhaps more than any other team. Last season, ailments to key players like Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert and Alec Burks caused them to fall a single game outside of the Western Conference’s last playoff spot.

This year, thanks to major jumps in production from Gordon Hayward, Gobert and Joe Ingles, Utah now finds itself in position for the fourth or fifth seed, an improvement of at least 10 wins.

This is all the more impressive for the Jazz given that they are not yet, and have not been, at full strength for the majority of this season. Hill and Favors’ absences have mostly taken place separately, which has left the team at least one player short of a fully stocked rotation for most of their games.

The “ideal” starting lineup of Hill, Rodney Hood, Hayward, Favors and Gobert has played only 12 games together leading into Friday. In those games, Utah has gone 10-2, which includes wins over top teams like the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers. Their only losses over that stretch were to two Western Conference playoff teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies.

Without Favors over the last month, the Jazz have gone 8-6, although they have also been without George Hill and others for periods of time.

Utah Jazz

Part of the reason that Favors’ absence hasn’t seemed to affect the Jazz’s bottom line all that much is because his role on the team has never been lower.

When he has played, Favors is averaging 9.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per game. These are his lowest values in those categories since 2012-13.

Favors is in a tough spot in the modern NBA – he’s stuck between playing a power forward and center on a roster that doesn’t really have a spot for him as he’s best utilized.

For a player with no three-point range, shooting 48 percent from the field this season leaves a lot to be desired, although the bulk of his value has never come on the offensive end.

Per Synergy, Favors does not rank above the 52nd percentile in any half-court offensive category, although some of this could be due to injury-related ineffectiveness.

In previous years, Favors was revered for his prowess on the low block, and it doesn’t look as if he’s gotten back to form in that area this season. Defensively, though, he’s still a nightmare for opponents, being one of just eight players to average at least one steal and one block per game in 2015-16.

Used situationally, Favors and Gobert together are a fearsome defensive frontcourt. When they play together, the Jazz have a stellar defensive rating of 96.3, which is more than four points better than the league-leading San Antonio Spurs.

Related Story: Rudy Gobert Proves His Worth in Absence

Against the Los Angeles Clippers, who are very likely to be Utah’s first round opponent, Favors will be essential in stopping star forward Blake Griffin, who has had some great outings against overmatched combo forwards like Joe Johnson or Hayward.

Even though the team as a whole has been successful game-to-game with all their pieces plugged in, the starting lineup mentioned earlier actually has a negative net rating, at -3.1.

For perhaps this reason, the Jazz have largely avoided pairing up Favors and Gobert; the latter has played 53 percent of his minutes as a center. While he’s out, that time goes to Jeff Withey or other players generally overmatched by a larger role.

The drop-off in talent is evident. With Withey on the court, Utah posts a  defensive rating of 108. With him off the floor, that number drops all the way to 101.5. Read another way, this means the Jazz are seven and a half points worse per 100 possessions whenever they are forced to play Withey.

In Favors’ first game back against the Minnesota Timberwolves, it appeared as if being cautious regarding his return to the floor had paid off. Watching, it was hard to tell that he had missed time at all, as he put up 13 points and five rebounds in just 16 minutes of action.

His power near the basket was impossible to miss, with 10 of his points coming on dunks.

There’s always the possibility that Quin Snyder could tighten up his rotations after conserving his veterans for the playoffs, which could lead to Favors taking minutes that presently go to Trey Lyles and others.

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Over the long term, Favors’ diminishing role may serve as the writing on the wall for him in Utah.

With one year left on an affordable contract, he could be an enticing piece of trade bait for a team in need of a big man still in his prime at 25 years of age.

Of course, if the Jazz make an extended run into the postseason this year, they’re much more likely to retain Favors in the interest of keeping their core around.

A lot rides on these last few regular season games as well.

The Jazz need to reintroduce a talented player back into their rotation after adapting without him over the course of a month. This must take place over a very short period, as the stakes will only continue to raise.

Next: 2016-17 NBA Power Rankings: Week 24

Barring any more unforeseen injuries, the Utah Jazz will be at full health entering the playoffs — no small feat considering the context of this season. With all the puzzle pieces together, Favors remains the final one that needs to fit into place.