Utah Jazz: Three predictions leading up to the trade deadline

Prediction #1 – The Jazz will keep Derrick Favors

For much of the season and during seasons prior, the Utah Jazz player whose name has seemingly come up the most in trade rumors has been Derrick Favors. With Rudy Gobert on the Jazz roster, Favors has had to play some at the four and some at the five. In today’s NBA, he doesn’t exactly fit the mold of a power forward considering that he’s not much of a floor spacing threat, but at the five, he doesn’t boast the elite rim protecting skills that Rudy does.

That has made for somewhat of an awkward fit. And many have wondered if Favors and Gobert can coexist with one another at all. Early in the season, it certainly looked like they couldn’t. The Jazz’s spacing was horrible, particularly with point guard Ricky Rubio in action, and it led to a horrifically clunky offense.

But all of a sudden, the Favors-Gobert-Rubio combo seems to have figured things out. Favors has played extremely well in his role and all three have developed a chemistry that has been instrumental in Utah’s five-game winning streak.

However, fit hasn’t been the only concern with Derrick Favors. Many have presumed and, in fact, some reports from local media have ‘confirmed’ that Favors is planning to part ways with the Jazz in his upcoming unrestricted free agency. In some ways, this wouldn’t be all that surprising.

Forced to play somewhat out of position on the same roster as Gobert and with all the trade rumors surrounding him, it would make sense that Derrick would want to play somewhere with a bit more of a defined role. Not to mention, Utah may not want to fork out the big bucks that Favors could command in the open market if they are worried about his fit.

But with Derrick playing exceptionally well of late, perhaps the Jazz would be more open to it. What’s more, is that Derrick Favors recently took to Twitter refuting the reports that he was unwilling to re-sign in Utah, going as far as to say that the notion was “not true at all.”

Consider that with the fact that teams might be hesitant to sell the farm for an expiring guy like Favors who could very well leave in free agency, thus limiting what Utah could get for him in return, and suddenly I’m sensing a reversal in Utah’s former determination to deal the six-foot-ten Georgia Tech product.

Although many of us have long assumed that Favors was practically out the door for the Jazz, his recent play and recent statements have me changing my tune. Especially with a presumed top trade target in Nikola Mirotic no longer available and with Utah suddenly functioning gloriously on both ends of the floor, I think rather than deal Favors, the Jazz will let him play out his contract, see how the rest of the year goes, then if he is willing to stay in Utah, make a big decision regarding his future.

I could be dead wrong on all this and Favors could indeed be sent off at the deadline, but recent signs have me feeling justified in going out on a limb and predicting that D-Faves is going to remain a Jazzman at least through the remainder of the 2017-18 season.