Utah Jazz: The Silent Emergence of Derrick Favors

The Utah Jazz are one of the NBA’s most intriguing young teams. Hidden in their sudden resurgence has been the silent emergence of Derrick Favors

The Utah Jazz were hands down the Cinderella of the Western Conference last season. On the surface, their 36-42 record doesn’t look all that impressive, but their defensive dominance led to an extremely successful second half of the season.

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After the trade deadline, in which the Jazz sent starting center Enes Kanter to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Rudy Gobert was inserted into the starting lineup and was extremely impressive.

The Jazz now have higher expectations entering the 2015-16 season and look poised for their first playoff berth since the 2011-12 season. As the second youngest team in the league (average age of 24.6-years-old), the talented roster led by coach Quinn Snyder looks to prove their success last year was not a fluke.

Both Gordon Hayward’s improvement and Gobert’s defensive excellence have been well documented, and a lot of the Jazz’s success has been chalked up to those two. That leaves a talent like power forward Derrick Favors out in the cold.

The completely underrated big man had a career year last season, but few seem to talk about it. His averages have steadily improved every season and, you want to know the scary part? He just turned 24-years-old.

When Favors was drafted and dealt to the Jazz, he was a mere 19-years-old. Now, finally all of his hard work is starting to come to fruition as his role expands. His unique combination of both strength and versatility enable him to contribute multiple ways offensively.

His bread and butter on the offense end of the ball is finishing close to the basket. He was fifth in the league last season in close shots points per game (6.3) and 479 of his 918 field goal attempts came from within five feet. The crazy thing is he shot nearly 68 percent from inside of five-foot range.

He was also top-10 in the amount of possessions as the roll man out of the pick and roll and he scored 51 percent of the time off the pick and roll. With NBA offenses using the pick and roll ever more frequently, this is something Jazz fans should be happy to see.

His offensive game has grown leaps and bounds and he continually showcases growth on that end of the floor. There is no shortage of advanced metrics that show how his growth and development continue to progress.

That chart is just a small sample of how talented Favors has become. He is now one of the most underrated players in the game and is a main building block for the upward trending Jazz.

His strong suit in the post appears to be finishing with the right hand off of a variety of post moves. He has showcased everything from an up-and-under to a right hand hook shot.

As you can see from this short sample, he shows great ability to finish around the rim. His go-to move seems to be a right-handed hook over his left shoulder (which he shot 48%). Another strength of his is the ability to be a strong post player without being a “black hole” of sorts. The ball does not stick for very long when he gets it. 72.9 percent of the time he holds the ball less than two seconds, which enables the ball movement to continue on the offensive side of the ball.

He has also showcased an ever improving mid-range jump shot. He has improved each year in the league and last year shot a career high 42 percent from 10-15 feet. This is important for numerous reasons. Not only does this expand his offensive arsenal, but it is a near necessity from a floor spacing perspective. Playing next to the Steiffel Tower Rudy Gobert who has little to no range, he must be able to step away from the basket. The strides he has shown should be something that excites Utah Jazz fans.

While his strides on the offensive side of the ball are promising, his defense is excellent as well. Although Rudy Gobert gets the majority of the credit for the Jazz’s defensive dominance (and well deserved), Favors is no slouch himself. He has a career average of 1.3 blocks per game and has become a legitimate rim protector.

“I take my defense very personal… If my guy score on me 2 or 3 times, I tell coach, ‘Don’t switch me off of him, let me guard him. He ain’t gonna score no more.” Derrick Favors

He only allowed opposing players to shoot 43.8 percent at the rim (compared to Gobert who allowed 40.4%). The impact of Favors of the defensive end is hidden due to how truly elite Gobert is. That does not mean that he should not be evaluated on his own. By all standards, he is an elite interior defender.

His defensive rating of 102.3 ranks better than stellar defenders like Avery Bradley, Eric Bledsoe, and the all-powerful LeBron James. However, after the All-Star break, the Jazz showcased a defensive rating of 92.0 with Favors on the court. That mark is actually 2.7 points per 100 possessions better than Gobert’s. Let that sink in for a moment.

Rebounding is another major advantage of Favors. His defensive rebounding percentage of 20.9 percent is excellent and he is continually improving his rebounding numbers. He averaged 2.6 offensive rebounds per game last season and is relentless on the glass.

Once touted as a draft bust, the truly patient believers and supporters of Favors are now gleaming. The patience was paid off and the old mantra that big men take more time to develop rings true in his case. The best thing is he seems to love it in Utah. The fans seem to love him as well.

As his game continues to develop and he becomes an even scarier presence, the question remains: why is he now underrated? There are several contributing factors that go into this. First off, he plays in a small market where the team is not really considered a must-see show on a national scale. Another reason is the emergence of Gobert has completely overshadowed him. Even the improvement of Gordon Hayward has trumped Favors.