Utah Jazz: Derrick Favors Thriving Under The Radar
By Adam McGee
Derrick Favors has thrived with the Utah Jazz in recent seasons, so why isn’t he getting more attention?
In a summer full of “name player” acquisitions for the Utah Jazz, the biggest weapon at Quin Snyder’s disposal heading into a new season could be one that he already had last year.
Rudy Gobert‘s potential and defensive prowess inevitably grabs attention. Gordon Hayward‘s versatile wing play has no shortage of fans. Now, the additions of George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw could bring a new veteran presence and polish to Salt Lake City in the coming year too.
Still, it’s the fact that Derrick Favors is much better than most around the league seem to realize that could be the most significant detail of all.
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For whatever reason, Favors hasn’t received the praise he’s due to date. Perhaps, it’s a result of him failing to start out his career with the Nets in a fashion expected of a third overall pick.
Maybe, it’s a byproduct of the time it took for him to emerge to the forefront of a frontcourt logjam when he first arrived in Utah.
It could even be a result of the fact that although it feels as if he has been around forever, he’s still only 24.
Whatever the reason for why he’s not a star name around the league, all that matters to the Jazz is that he performs like one.
There were only five players in the entire NBA last season who managed to average 16 points, eight rebounds, one steal and one block per game. Four of them were named All-Stars, and the other was Favors.
| Totals | Per Game | Shooting | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Season | Tm | G | MP | FGA | 3PA | FTA | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
| Paul Millsap | 2015-16 | ATL | 81 | 32.7 | 13.2 | 2.9 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 17.1 | .470 | .319 | .757 |
| Andre Drummond | 2015-16 | DET | 81 | 32.9 | 13.1 | 0.1 | 7.2 | 14.8 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.0 | 16.2 | .521 | .333 | .355 |
| Anthony Davis | 2015-16 | NOP | 61 | 35.5 | 18.6 | 1.8 | 7.0 | 10.3 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 24.3 | .493 | .324 | .758 |
| Derrick Favors | 2015-16 | UTA | 62 | 32.0 | 13.1 | 0.1 | 4.1 | 8.1 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 16.4 | .515 | .000 | .709 |
| DeMarcus Cousins | 2015-16 | SAC | 65 | 34.6 | 20.5 | 3.2 | 10.2 | 11.5 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 26.9 | .451 | .333 | .718 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/28/2016.
Filtering that elite group of NBA bigs only further illustrates just how well-rounded, the 24-year-old Atlanta native really is.
If we change the list to also take into account those who averaged at least one assist per game, Andre Drummond no longer counts. Of the four that remain, Favors is the only player who shot over 50 percent from the field. If we return to the sample of five players we started with, it’s also notable that nobody turned the ball over less than the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket.
In many ways, it’s interesting that Paul Millsap‘s name appears on that list too. Millsap, alongside the likes of Al Jefferson, acted as something of a mentor to Favors when he was traded to the Jazz, and it was only really when Millsap then left in free agency years later that Utah carved out a starter’s role for Favors.
The connection doesn’t end there. Millsap spent his first season in Atlanta working under Snyder, who was then the Hawks’ assistant. With a sense of both men being do-it-all forwards, there are undoubtedly traits from Millsap’s game that Snyder would like to see Favors add to his own arsenal.
Rumored to be chief among them has been Snyder’s desire to see Favors stretch the floor with his shot. Asked by Ron Boone about whether he’d spent his summer working on a stretch-4 role at Utah’s media day on Monday, Favors gave an interesting reply.
"“It’s definitely something that I’m working on. Me and Coach Q[uin Snyder] talked about it, but it’s not something that I’m really focusing on right now. Everybody else, they’re doing it, but I know where I’m more effective at. I know I want to be on that block, in the paint, doing work down there. If it comes a time where I have to step out there and shoot a three, I would. I’m working on it now, but I know where I’m effective at.”"
For his NBA career to date, Favors has only attempted 16 total three-pointers in seven seasons. This is another area in which he resembles Millsap, or at least the incarnation of the now three-time All-Star that was seen during his time in Utah.
In seven years with the Jazz, Millsap attempted only 113 three-point attempts, while in the three seasons since he has taken a whopping 660 shots from behind the arc. A three-point shot transformed Millsap’s game to the point where he now gets well-deserved recognition as a top-15 caliber player in the NBA.
If anything, Favors’ game is already better equipped than Millsap’s was when he left Utah. At the very least, he’s four years younger than Millsap was when he started to really let fly from range.
While there has been talk that the Jazz would look at restructuring Favors’ current contract for a long-term agreement, as it stands, the Georgia native’s contract will expire at the end of the 2017-18 season.
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By just doing what he’s been doing, Favors will continue to be one of the league’s very best big men for the remainder of that deal, and likely fly under the radar while doing so. On the flip side, if he can add a three-point shot in the way that his former teammate did at a similar juncture in his career, everyone will quickly know Derrick Favors’ name.