Utah Jazz: Derrick Favors May Be Playing His Way Out of Utah

Derrick Favors’ inability to step up and be effective in Rudy Gobert’s absence is putting his long-term future with the Utah Jazz in serious question.

Prior to the Game 3 bout between the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers, I wrote about how critical it was for Derrick Favors to step up and help provide the necessary paint presence for Utah on both ends of the floor. He had done a respectable job in Games 1 and 2, but particularly in the latter of those contests his defense wasn’t quite up to snuff.

However, with an opportunity to win the series by simply defending home court for three games, the Jazz needed him to come up even bigger in Game 3 than he had been able to previously. So how did he respond? With a two-point (on 1-of-3 shooting), six rebound, zero block performance that saw him post a plus/minus of -17 which was the lowest on the team by a very wide margin.

Not to mention, he missed two critical free throws down the stretch and was ineffective in the paint once again on defense as the Clippers were allowed to feast down low with 48 points in the paint compared to Utah’s 28.

With Rudy Gobert sidelined due to the injury suffered in Game 1, Derrick Favors was expected to be the stopgap at the center position, providing the Jazz with a much-needed lift in the post. Unfortunately, rather than have a noticeably positive impact, instead Favors remained largely ineffective throughout the night, particularly during Utah’s second half collapse.

Of course, to be fair to Favors, there’s plenty of reasons to cut him some slack. Early in the game, prior to Blake Griffin suffering a toe injury and exiting the contest, Favors had some pretty solid defensive sequences on him. He’s also being forced to log all of his minutes outside of his comfortable power forward position as the starting center and there’s no questioning whatsoever that Favors still isn’t completely healthy.

By game’s end he was looking absolutely exhausted as his lingering knee issue has appeared to render him nearly immobile at times as he struggles to elevate or get up and down the court.

The fact that Favors was even on the floor at all and giving it his all was enough for him to garner Coach Snyder’s praise in spite of his relative ineffectiveness. Following Utah’s Game 3 loss to LA, Snyder had the following to say about D-Faves:

"“You don’t have to look any further than the guy played 38 minutes and he hasn’t played that many minutes all year. He’s battling. He’s competing, playing hard, and we’re asking a lot of him right now. We’re going to keep doing that, and he’s going to give us everything he has.“I think he got tired. He’s an important part of what we do whether it’s 38 or 28 or 18 minutes. He’s done a great job of playing through it all year. I know it’s not easy, but at the same time we’ve got to be aware of that.”"

Nevertheless, despite all the effort that Favors may be putting in with the obstacles before him – most notably the injury and to a lesser extent having to play out of position and more minutes than he’s accustomed to – his inability to produce consistently is without a doubt a reason why the Jazz are currently in their 1-2 hole.

Sure, there were plenty of reasons contributing to Utah’s collapse and Game 3 loss, but if you don’t see how Favors is one of those reasons, then you probably weren’t paying attention.

Not only was DeAndre Jordan allowed to have his way on both ends of the floor as he finished with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting with 13 rebounds, but on countless occasions LA’s guards (most notably Chris Paul who absolutely destroyed the Jazz) were able to get into the paint and either score or set up a teammate at will.

Whenever Paul would get by defender Joe Ingles, Favors did next to nothing as a help defender and rim protector, allowing the Clippers several easy looks. For a team that has grown accustomed to the luxury of having Rudy Gobert laying in wait at the rim when an opposing player gets past them, that’s been a difficult and disheartening adjustment.

Therefore, while on Friday I noted that Favors had a chance to turn up his level of play and prove that he not only could serve as a reliable insurance policy for Gobert but also that he indeed deserves a spot on this Jazz team long-term, he failed to do either of those things in Game 3 and instead furthered the case for him no longer being a necessary or effective piece of this team.

Sure, he’s likely hindered by injury, but great players find a way to step up even when the chips are against them. To be frank, I’m still not convinced that George Hill is entirely healthy, however he was still able to drop in 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting in Friday’s loss. That kind of grit and never-back-down kind of play is exactly what it takes to win a playoff series. And it was all too clear on Friday night that those weren’t traits that Favors was embodying.

Considering that the Jazz were able to survive and in some cases thrive during the regular season without Favors on the floor or when he was ineffective due to injury, and that now he’s failing to provide a boost for the team when it needs it most, one has to wonder if Favors’ time in Utah may be limited and whether or not he’ll continue to be an essential piece of this Jazz team moving forward.

Coming into this season, Favors was seen as one of the main guys whose contract the Jazz would likely look to extend with their plentiful amount of cap space. However, as the year rolled on it became more and more clear that such wouldn’t be the case. With just one more year remaining on his current contract, Utah may be in for some tough decisions regarding Favors moving forward.

Depending how the rest of the postseason goes, the Jazz could look to allow him to prove himself at the position next year in what will hopefully be a healthier season for him. Nevertheless, with Utah aiming to lock down free agents Gordon Hayward, George Hill and Joe Ingles next season, there is a chance that they’ll need to get creative financially to make room for each of them and still have some flexibility to add more much-needed contributors via trade or free agency.

With that being the case, Favors’ play this season and especially during the postseason may very well make Jazz brass see him as one of the team’s more expendable players. If the Jazz can find any sort of value for him in a trade or perhaps if they find themselves needing to do a salary-dump move to pave the way for keeping more important players, Derrick’s disappointing performances this season may make either of those decisions very much justifiable.

Thus as Favors continues to struggle with the stakes at their highest, fans may very well be seeing him play his way out of Utah.

To be quite honest, I really, truly hope that I eat my words here. I’ve been a huge fan of Favors ever since he came over to Utah and want nothing more than to see him succeed in a Jazz uniform. Maybe he’ll have a bounce-back game tonight or perhaps once Rudy gets back in action, Favors will be incredibly effective at power forward.

Or maybe an offseason of recovery will produce an amazing season next year and Utah’s patience with him will pay off.

I truly hope that one of those ends up being the case as a solid power forward has been a crucial missing link for the Jazz all season long and it would be great to see Derrick fill that role. Yet the fact of the matter is that for Utah to be successful, they’re going to need much more out of Favors than they’re currently getting.

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Thus, as much as I, along with the rest of the Utah faithful, can hope and wish that D-Faves is eventually able to get it done and remain an effective part of this Jazz team, the truth is that it’s up to him to prove that he belongs.

He can get started tonight by helping the Jazz knot up the series against the Clippers at two games apiece.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com