NBA Power Rankings: Top 10 Power Forwards Thus Far
By Shane Young
10. Derrick Favors — Utah Jazz
16.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks per game
22.89 PER, 56.5% FG, 66.7% FT
Three things have been wrong with the outlook of the Utah Jazz.
One, Quin Snyder was supposed to be the people’s champion in Salt Lake City when he came over from the Hawks’ coaching staff. He was supposed to balance the offense and defense, and he only brought one of those to the table.
Two, the focus was supposed to be fully on Gordon Hayward, who Utah just couldn’t live without during the summer. Instead, his rise actually took a backseat in storylines to the Trey Burke vs. Dante Exum conundrum, which is sort of splitting the fans in half when it comes to their future starting point guard. Nothing is more agitating than the public perceiving a problem in the backcourt, and media calling for changes in the lineup.
Three, Derrick Favors wasn’t supposed to look this impressive. Favors came into the league with John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, but was yet to live up to those All-Star worthy talents.
With 21 games already being played, Favors has adopted the nickname of “D-Faves” because he’s worth a nickname for this city now. While many don’t like it, he’s enjoying himself.
Not only is he having a career year in scoring (16.2 points per game), but he’s doing so in the most efficient year he’s had to date. Shooting 56.5 percent from the floor and 58.8 percent in true shooting percentage, there hasn’t been a more reliable guy on the court for Snyder. Most of Favors’ efficiency can be pointed to his patient pick-and-roll game, since he has a point guard that delivers him the ball deeper in the paint than most:
The key here is to notice how Favors gets Kyle O’Quinn to turn most of his attention to Burke on the roll, which allows enough space for Burke to drop off a nice bounce pass to Favors in the restricted area. This season, when Favors catches the ball that deep inside the paint — either in post-up position or face-up — he’s going to score or get free throws. Pick your poison in that instance. Of all power forwards in the top 10, Favors has ranked second in field goal percentage from the restricted area (69.9 percent). Only Anthony Davis has been better, at 72.7 percent.
We all understand the defense is putrid when it comes to the Jazz, and no coach is going to make a difference when you have this roster at your hands. However, the offense has greatly improved from 25th overall in defensive rating last season, to 16th overall through the first 21 games this year. Most of it is due to Favors, who makes Utah completely better with him on the floor. His personal offensive rating is at a career-high 118 points per 100 possessions.
It’s just the defensive principles that are holding Favors back from being a household name in this league. His Defensive Real Plus-Minus (DRPM) is at an appalling -0.92 for the season, meaning it actually hurts the team to have him out there on the court defending opposing frontcourts. It ranks him 79th of all power forwards this season, and someone should direct that to Snyder.
Nonetheless, the offensive improvement is what we’ve been wanting to see from him since his days at Georgia Tech. At least he’s growing mentally.
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