New Orleans Pelicans: Impact of the Derrick Favors trade

The New Orleans Pelicans agreed to a deal late Sunday night with the Utah Jazz to acquire Derrick Favors. The move really bolsters their roster and his presence will help them in more ways than one.

On Sunday, the NBA kicked off its 2019 free agency period in a big way. Starting at 6 p.m. ET, it didn’t take long before the deals came rolling in. There were so many agreements and trades being negotiated that it was hard to even keep up with it all.

One of the bigger moves was the Utah Jazz agreeing to sign the sharpshooting forward Bojan Bogdanovic to a four-year deal worth $73 million. However, to make this deal happen, the Jazz would have to find a way to get out of their contract with power forward Derrick Favors.

This is where the New Orleans Pelicans came swooping in. ESPN‘s Zach Lowe reported that the Pelicans were the ones closing in on a deal with the big man. According to ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Pels will end up trading their 2021 and 2023 second round draft picks that they received from the Golden State Warriors to Utah in order to acquire Favors.

This seems to be a great fit for both parties involved here. Even though the Pelicans just drafted big man Jaxson Hayes out of Texas, the team still had a need for another serviceable center to fill out the roster.

There were rumblings that the team was in the running to acquire big man Al Horford, but he ultimately decided to stay in the Eastern Conference and sign with the Philadelphia 76ers. Favors may not be the all-around player that Horford is, but he is still a solid signing and will contribute greatly to the team’s success this upcoming year.

Derrick Favors has always been known for his stellar defense during his time in Utah. The Pelicans can count on the nine-year veteran to work hard on the glass (career average of 7.2 rebounds per game) and to be an above-average rim protector (career average of 1.3 blocks per game).

New Orleans may very well already have the best defensive backcourt duo in the league with Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball, so with the perimeter on lock and Favors playing alongside No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson, this defense has the potential to be very special. With pass-first Lonzo and an athletic freak like Zion looking to get out and run as much as they can, having a reliable defense that can get steals and stops will only help that cause.

The newly acquired Favors will also be just a nice veteran presence to have in the locker room. The 28-year-old is a guy that any franchise would love to have on its team, a consummate pro with playoff experience who is also on a team-friendly contract.

During his nine years in Utah, he never made headlines for the wrong reasons and carried himself in a professional way, which really does matter in this league. Favors, along with Holiday and newly acquired J.J. Redick, can all act as mentors and leaders to this group of youngsters.

It goes without saying that executive vice president David Griffin has done an amazing job so far with the Pelicans. He was able to come in and trade the unhappy Anthony Davis in exchange for a whole slew of young talent and assets, and lucked out by drafting a once-in-a-lifetime player in Zion Williamson.

With a nice young core now in place, he made a couple of moves on Sunday to address some needs — outside shooting by grabbing Redick, and rim protection and post defense by adding Favors. Griffin seems to be a man with a plan when it comes to this young and exciting team, and it’s time for the city of New Orleans and the rest of the NBA to take notice.