Utah Jazz 2016-17 season review: Derrick Favors
By Adam Coffman
Derrick Favors suffered through a season of injuries in 2016-17, his seventh with the Utah Jazz. How did his year stack up, and what are his prospects moving forward?
Although he is still just 25 years old, Derrick Favors has performed in a lot of roles during his NBA career. After being drafted third overall in 2010 by the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets, he was traded to the Utah Jazz midseason as part of the deal that sent Deron Williams east.
Since then, he spent time as a backup big before being promoted to a starting spot at power forward with the Jazz, a gig he’s held since the 2013-14 season. Now though, things are changing that might undermine this role, much less his future in Utah.
Still though, he was an important contributor to a team that won 50 games, starting for stretches and coming off the bench at multiple positions.
In 2016-17, Favors averaged 9.5 points and 6.1 rebounds on 48.7 percent shooting. To go with this, he also put up 0.8 steals and 0.9 blocks per game, solid numbers for someone who played in just 23.7 minutes per contest.
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However, his season shouldn’t be remembered by the numbers alone. Other factors influence how the Jazz front office and fanbase alike should look back on Favors’ year.
We’ll get into his strengths and weaknesses, as well as what he should look for moving forward in his professional career, whether with the Jazz or not.