Derrick Favors has returned to the Utah Jazz in a move that just feels right. He is going to help their obvious areas of need too.
After nine seasons where Derrick Favors played his heart and soul out for the Utah Jazz, they traded him for two second-round picks. The world did not seem to be spinning on its right axis after that. Favors was the power forward for the Jazz, next to Rudy Gobert, and that is how things should be.
Well, like a true professional, Favors played for the Pelicans, moving over to the center slot for the first time in his career. As a result, he averaged a career-high 9.8 rebounds per game and showed that he is still a presence in the league.
The Jazz tried Jeff Green and the Royce O’Neale in the starting spot but both of them had their issues. Green was cut a short way into the season and while O’Neale battled hard, he is only 6’4″ and struggled against some of the bigger frontcourts in the NBA.
Derrick Favors and the Utah Jazz fit like a hand in a glove
When Favors is patrolling the front-court with Gobert, they are a tough team to score against inside the paint. While this may limit their ability to switch as a team, it does mean that when Gobert sits, the Jazz still have a player who can defend the post effectively.
Favors is a throwback power forward who does not have a huge amount of range on his shot. Put that next to Gobert and this could be a floor-spacing nightmare. The current NBA is all about stretch fours and fives so that other players can go to work in the space created.
Well, the Jazz have Bojan Bogdanovic, Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, and Jordan Clarkson who are all very good at shooting from distance. Add Mike Conley onto that list and you can see why it is not a problem. Plus, the Jazz now have two high-quality offensive rebounders on their team.
Where the Favors signing is truly going to help the Jazz is if they make it deep into the playoffs. The title chase is probably going to go through the Los Angeles Lakers again and without Favors, their best option to try and guard the huge Lakers front-court is O’Neale next to Gobert.
Add to that the Denver Nuggets have some bigger bodies in their lineup and you can see the Jazz were not going to get anywhere without filling this position of need. Looking at the numbers from last season, it is easy to see why.
The Jazz were 13th in the league in rebounding with 44.9 per game and while this is ok, they were 26th in offensive rebounds with 9.1 per game. For a team who take the outside shots the Jazz do, they need to be top-10 in this category.
On top of this, the Jazz averaged 4.1 blocks per game which was 28th in the league. They were also 28th in the league for two-point attempts against. This adds up to the Jazz moving well away from their identity.
As stated earlier, the league is moving towards 3-point shooters dominating. The Golden State Warriors showed how it could be done and the rest of the league is copying. The Jazz are going in another direction with a more traditional setup. They are hoping this will be their road to a title.