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Utah Jazz: Deyonta Davis Draws Comparisons to Derrick Favors

By Ryan Aston

Mar 11, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Keita Bates-Diop (33) has his shot blocked by Michigan State Spartans forward Deyonta Davis (23) during the Big Ten Conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 11, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Keita Bates-Diop (33) has his shot blocked by Michigan State Spartans forward Deyonta Davis (23) during the Big Ten Conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Michigan State big man Deyonta Davis impressed in his solo workout with the Utah Jazz.

If you watched a lot of Michigan State basketball this past season, you probably did so to catch a glimpse of the multi-talented Denzel Valentine, the AP National Player of the Year. Or maybe it was Bryn Forbes that caught your eye with his ability to rip the nets from distance.

While both were excellent college players and Valentine figures to be a first round selection in next week’s NBA Draft, if you’re like me, you may have overlooked the real prize on the Spartans in terms of next-level potential–freshman forward Deyonta Davis.

Davis, who wasn’t even a starter for MSU coach Tom Izzo until mid-January, has the look of a Top 15 pick in the draft and is drawing comparisons to one of the key components of the Utah Jazz core. Namely, big man Derrick Favors.

While Davis hasn’t reached quite the same level of physical development that Favors had after his lone season at Georgia Tech, Jazz vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin indicated that he may be further along in other areas—

"“I think his timeline is a little quicker. Now, we didn’t have Derrick in for a workout because we traded for him, but once we got Derrick here–I think Deyonta’s shot is probably a little bit better than what Derrick was when he first got here.”"

Perrin continued–

"“He plays with a little bit more smoothness than Derrick plays with. He may look less energetic than Derrick does, but I think he understands the game very well. So he gets to spots probably a little bit easier and doesn’t look like he gets to those spots with a lot of effort, but he’s always in the right position–especially defensively.”"

Perrin also spoke about Davis’ potential as a stretch option on offense. Although he hit on nearly 60 percent of his shot attempts for the Spartans, Davis only made a handful of shots outside of the paint as a collegiate. However, the 19-year-old displayed good shooting touch with range out to 18 feet from the basket during Thursday’s workout.

The 6-foot-10, 245-pound Davis averaged 7.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and nearly two blocks per contest for MSU last season. He finished in the top ten of the Big Ten conference in blocks, offensive rebounds and field goal percentage.

With his decision to declare for the draft, he became the first player since Zach Randolph to leave the program for the NBA after just one season.

Next: Five Reasons the Utah Jazz Should Pursue Jared Dudley

Although wing depth has been cited by many as the greatest area of need for the Jazz, with players like Davis, Domantas Sabonis and Jakob Poeltl all potentially in play when the team picks at No. 12, we could see another big man in the navy, green and gold this fall.

Especially if that big man incites visions of Derrick Favors.