Despite turbulent career with Utah Jazz, Derrick Favors open to returning

Derrick Favors’ career with the Utah Jazz has had its challenges, but he recently made it clear that it’s still a spot he’d love to stay.

Make no mistake about it, Derrick Favors has experienced his share of ups and downs with the Utah Jazz. When he joined the team in 2010-11, he did so midway through his rookie season after being traded by the then New Jersey Nets. He actually saw his minutes increase upon coming to Utah, but the Jazz would go on to miss the playoffs that year. I’m sure being traded mere months into his pro debut wasn’t exactly the way he saw his first year in the NBA turning out.

Utah bounced back and nabbed the eighth and final seed in the playoffs in a lockout-shortened year in 2011-12 in which Favors suited up for all but one game. From there, the Jazz took a turn for the worst as a capable Utah team went on to narrowly miss the playoffs in 2012-13, then took a further nosedive in 2013-14 as they finished with the worst record in the Western Conference of 25-57.

The Jazz slowly climbed their way back to relevance from there, but narrowly missed the playoffs in both 2014-15 and 2015-16. Despite some discouraging end results, Favors was viewed as a crucial part of Utah’s core during all those turbulent times. And between the solid numbers he put up in 2014-15 and 2015-16, an unrelenting work ethic and a solid attitude, he quickly solidified himself as a fan favorite among the Utah Jazz faithful.

And as if his time with the Jazz hadn’t been rocky enough, in a season when Utah finally turned the corner and was a playoff-caliber team all season long, Favors just couldn’t stay healthy. In 2016-17, Favors missed 32 games, the most he has in any season, and as the team thrived without him, some wondered whether his presence was truly critical.

In my opinion, he more than proved his worth in the first-round series win over the LA Clippers last year, but as has been the case so often in his career, his contributions largely flew under the radar. After a solid offseason during the summer of 2017, Favors battled his way back to health and looked good early in 2017-18. However, the Jazz got off to a slow start and it looked like the typical turbulence that has followed Favors’ career would continue.

Favors played well individually all things considered, but it appeared that he and teammates Rudy Gobert and Ricky Rubio just weren’t going to work together. Once Gobert went down with a pair of injuries, the Jazz started to slump anew and at one point fell all the way down to nine games below .500.

Favors had been a rumored trade piece for the Utah Jazz before, but with the situation facing Utah at the time, many thought it would be a near certainty that he’d be traded as several rumors flew around at full force, the most noteworthy, perhaps, being a swap for former Chicago Bulls stretch-four Nikola Mirotic.

Despite that rampant speculation, Favors just continued to do his thing that won Jazz fans over in the first place – put his head down and go to work without so much as a peep of a complaint. As he did so, and as Rudy Gobert returned to form and the Jazz chemistry finally clicked, suddenly this team reached another level.

A level that has allowed them to win 28 of their last 33 games and become just the fourth team in the West to clinch a playoff berth.

And while Derrick’s stats aren’t jumping off the page as much as they were during his 16-8 seasons of 2014-15 and 2015-16, he’s still been a solid force to be reckoned with for the Jazz, averaging 12.2 points on 56.1 percent shooting and 7.2 rebounds per contest. He’s also allowed the Jazz to have a solid rim protector on the floor at all times as he’s not only started alongside Gobert, but also been his primary backup.

As such, Favors has developed an excellent chemistry with both the first and second units, which has been evident in how well he’s been able to jive with both Donovan Mitchell and Dante Exum.

And while Favors tends to fly under the radar in terms of media coverage and even sometimes fan appreciation (though I’d still say he’s very much a fan favorite, even if not quite as highly touted as the rest of the team), his teammates certainly recognize and appreciate his impact. In a recent article from The Salt Lake Tribune’s Tony Jones, Mitchell was quoted as referring to Favors as the team’s “unsung hero.”

Mitchell also added the following:

"“He’s one of those guys that not everyone talks about but he gets the job done. Everyone sees how hard he works. Everyone loves his mentality of being a gritty guy on the boards. He’s been great for us.”"

Rudy Gobert had high praise for his frontcourt partner as well by expressing a similar sentiment:

"“He’s been great. Everyone knows his situation hasn’t been easy. But he’s stayed focused and he’s played well.”"

Those are awesome statements to hear about a guy like Favors who’s deserving of nothing but praise and respect from Jazz fans for his hard work and dedication as the longest-tenured player on the team. However, in spite of the ways he’s quietly made the Jazz better and in spite of the respect he’s garnered from his teammates, many presumed that once his unrestricted free agency finally hit this summer, he would likely be on his way out of Utah.

In a lot of ways that would be understandable. Between being at the center of trade rumors, dealing with countless ups and downs, fighting injury issues and, most recently, seeing his role dramatically decreased the past two years, one could understand how Favors might want to pursue a different situation.

However, based on a report from the aforementioned Salt Lake Tribune article, such might not be the case after all.

Derrick Favors had the following to say about his situation and feelings for the Jazz organization:

"“I would love to come back and be a part of this team. Obviously a lot is going to happen between now and when I have to make a decision. But I love this team, and I love the fans. I definitely have an open mind.”“I know that anything can happen. I want to be here. But I also know that it’s a business, so when the time comes, both sides are going to have to make business decisions. What I have to do is focus on what I can control. I want to help this team win games. I want to help this team go far in the playoffs.”"

That’s pretty cool to hear from the unsung hero and admitted “forgotten man” of the Utah Jazz, who has played a much larger role in their success this season and beyond than almost anyone seems to be giving him credit for. While assumptions have largely leaned towards Favors leaving as a free agent, his statements surely seem to indicate otherwise.

And I think his play and appearance on the floor visibly back this up. He’s looked happy and has been playing with energy. His chemistry with each and every one of his teammates seems incredible. This is a tight-knit squad that Favors may be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.

So with that all being the case, what reason do we have to believe that Favors would be anywhere else next season? If he has indicated he wants to be here, shouldn’t the two parties just be able to make it happen?

They very well might, but there’s still a couple of issues that could result in an eventual split between the Jazz and Favors. Simply put, those issues boil down to salary and role.

I’m not in the Jazz front office, but I have a feeling that they’re well aware of Favors’ contribution and fit with this team and would love to keep him around. If they’re able to retain him at a reasonable price and if he’s comfortable with the role he’s been molded for of 25 to 28 minutes per night as presumably a starter, but largely coming off the bench to back up Rudy Gobert, then why not keep him?

However, say this summer Favors expresses that he wants to bloom as a starting center somewhere else while in the prime of his career. That’s perfectly understandable, right? If that ends up being his desire, then I’m sure no one in the Jazz organization will hold any ill will towards him whatsoever, and fans shouldn’t either.

Then again, the next question is salary. Are there teams out there that could offer Favors such a role as well as big dollars? Sure there are. But most of them are lottery-bound teams such as the Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks. Would Favors want a bigger role but on a much less competent team? Would a potential pay raise be worth taking a big step backwards in terms of championship hopes?

Those are some of the questions facing Favors, but based on what he said in those previous statements, I’m not so sure that he’d be willing to make that trade-off. Of course, this is his livelihood and he deserves a chance to make as much money as he can, but I have a feeling that being in a better situation might ultimately be more what he’s looking for.

I think Tony Jones knocked it out of the park in his piece, when he said the following:

"But Favors has to decide whether that’s the role he wants as he heads into the prime of his career. It presents an interesting conundrum. Maybe he goes somewhere else and finds a bigger role. But this Jazz team may not be far away from transforming from a good team into a special team.And he could be a part of that."

The Jazz are indeed turning into a special team. And being a part of that special team could be enough to make Favors lean more towards coming to terms with the Jazz rather than pursuing another team’s offer. Don’t get me wrong, the Jazz won’t overpay Favors. They’ll probably be willing to go a little above and beyond if it means keeping someone that’s given so much to them and meant so much to the franchise, but they’re not going to totally knock out the financial flexibility they’ve worked hard to build up just to spend it all on him.

However, especially if teams like Atlanta, Phoenix and Dallas aren’t particularly willing to open up their wallets, then I could definitely see both parties coming to terms, even more so now that Favors has expressed a clear willingness to stay put in Utah.

The only exception to that is if Jazz brass simply ends up feeling that a change in that role is necessary, perhaps adding a more versatile stretch-four as the starting power forward or utilizing the money that would go to Favors on a more necessary complimentary piece.

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Obviously, with the Jazz clinching a playoff berth, there’s a lot of basketball left before any of these kinds of decisions have to be made and it will be interesting to see what kind of noise Utah makes in the postseason and how Derrick Favors individually performs.

Whatever comes of his unrestricted free agency, though, one thing is certain. His words about the Jazz and apparent desire to return if things pan out is a nice change of pace from what Utah went through last year with their unrestricted free agents. I’ve always loved Derrick Favors and personally hope that he indeed does find a way to come back to this team and city that have fully embraced him.

Even if he doesn’t, though, he will undoubtedly continue to have my full support and respect.