Has Derrick Favors played his last game as a member of the Utah Jazz?

With the Utah Jazz season coming to a close on Tuesday, Derrick Favors’ free agency is the biggest question looming this summer.

The Utah Jazz absolutely exceeded expectations in every way during the 2017-18 NBA season. Not just the low expectations set on them heading into the season, but especially expectations once they dropped to a record of 19-28. At that point how many people expected them to actually be able to make the playoffs? Or win a first-round series?

Heck, even after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, the expectation held by many was that Utah would be easily swept in four games. Instead, Utah took the series to five and had it not been for an onslaught of injuries to Ricky Rubio, Dante Exum, Derrick Favors and, even in the waning moments of Game 5, Donovan Mitchell, they may have caused the Houston Rockets even more problems.

Nevertheless, the Jazz season came to an end following Tuesday’s Game 5 defeat. Fortunately, in spite of the loss, the overwhelming sentiment emanating from the Jazz locker room and post-game interviews was one of optimism and hope for a bright future.

And there’s great reason for that. Despite the slow start to the year, the Jazz were one win away from the third seed in the West. Imagine what they can do if they pick up where they left off next season as well as benefit from getting a solid offseason of work and improvement under their belts.

It’s more than likely that such will be their focus. Between the nature of the free agent market and Utah’s current financial situation, they’re better suited to make a real splash in the summer of 2019. As such, my guess is that they’ll focus on hitting a home run in the draft, put an immense emphasis on internal player development and perhaps make a couple of smaller moves here and there to shore up the roster.

With that being the case, you could say that Utah doesn’t have too many tough decisions to make this offseason, but there are a couple that certainly stand out. The first is with restricted free agent Dante Exum, who the Jazz can match any offer to retain him if they see fit to do so. The bigger question, though, lies with unrestricted free agent Derrick Favors.

Has he played his last game as a Jazzman? Or will he be back next season?

Varying circumstances make this a tough question to answer for both sides. Derrick Favors has expressed interest in coming back, but he’s also been the subject of trade rumors and at one point it was almost universally accepted that he wouldn’t be returning once he hit free agency.

He has been absolutely selfless in his role with the team, at times sacrificing minutes to Rudy Gobert or Jae Crowder, depending on the matchup, and has come up big when his name has been called upon. However, that has sometimes resulted in fewer minutes than Favors is deserving of when he could very well be a starting center and cornerstone for another franchise. This may drive him to want to look elsewhere.

Then again, he’s clearly developed an awesome chemistry with his Jazz teammates and is a crucial, albeit often times unheralded, part of this Utah team. Could Favors potentially be willing to sacrifice an increased role in order to continue to remain a part of something special? Only he knows the answer to that. But as you can see, this decision has plenty of arguments on both sides.

There’s also the Favors situation from the Jazz organization’s point of view. Clearly they love and respect the current longest-tenured Jazzman and appreciate all he’s done for the team. If it was solely a question of keeping him around without any other consequences, I’m sure they’d do it in a heartbeat. However, the Jazz also have fit, money and the team’s ultimate ceiling to consider.

First of all, Derrick Favors may receive a hefty multi-year offer from a team with cap space that he simply opts not to refuse. If that happens, then the Jazz, whether they like it or not, will have their decision made for them. Then again, due to the nature of this year’s free agent market, there’s not a ton of money to go around and Favors might be disappointed with his offers. If that ends up being the case, could he and the Jazz come to an agreement?

One idea that I’ve seen brought up a number of times on Twitter is that the Jazz could perhaps aim to extend Favors a 1+1 deal, similar to those of Thabo Sefolosha, Jonas Jerebko and Ekpe Udoh with a team option on the second year. This may require them to overpay Favors initially, but if they don’t have clear targets in mind that they’d like to spend their money on, that’s not the end of the world, especially considering that they’d have flexibility with him in 2019 with a team option.

Favors could also agree to that potentially if it meant a nice pay bump this year, then perhaps he could command more money once the deal was up or if Utah opted to make a splash in 2019 free agency and exercise their team option.

I actually really like this idea. It gives the Jazz one more year to evaluate whether the Gobert-Favors pairing can be a secret to victory in a year when they’ll be focused more on developing their existing talent rather than looking to add anything too dramatically new. It also allows them to keep a guy who’s been a key to their success, but if Favors feels anxious to find a new role but is nervous about his salary, he may find it to be a good compromise.

Last of all, even if Favors is pretty set on wanting to stay, the Jazz have to consider fit and whether keeping him long-term is their best option in terms of reaching their ceiling. The 1+1 contract idea helps mitigate some risk, but there’s no guarantee that it will work out. The Jazz may want to add someone besides Derrick this summer and be unable to afford both, or he may only be interested in signing a long-term deal.

As I mentioned, Favors has been solid for the Jazz on several occasions, but there are some doubts about whether he’s the answer at the starting four-spot for Utah. He struggled mightily in the series against Houston, averaging just 5.6 points per game. In fairness, he was dealing with a hurt ankle and the Rockets weren’t a great matchup for him, but still, one has to wonder if he’s truly part of the solution to get the Jazz over the Rockets/Warriors hump.

There’s long been talk of Utah adding a playmaking stretch-four, and while they have Jae Crowder for the moments when he matches up better than Favors, he struggled mightily in the postseason as well. The Jazz might find it optimal to find a better fit at the four-spot rather than keep Favors on board any longer despite how hard it would be to part ways with him.

As you can see, the Jazz have some tough decisions to make regarding Favors and Favors has tough decisions to make regarding the Jazz. I certainly could see him coming back next year, especially if the free agent market proves unrewarding for him and he and the Jazz can agree to a safe 1+1 contract.

However, I have a feeling that if Favors is offered a long-term contract where he is viewed as the full-time starting center, he’ll likely be excited to step in that role and Utah will lose him. Yes, the Jazz offer him a chance to be a part of something special, but with Rudy Gobert owning the starting center spot, Favors probably realizes that at least to some extent (especially if his price tag is high) the Jazz may view him as expendable in terms of reaching their ceiling and getting past the behemoths in the West.

Next: Utah Jazz: Royce O’Neale proved his worth in 2018 Playoffs

Personally, I’d like to see Favors stay. He’s worked his tail off in Utah and has become a beloved player among the Jazz faithful. However, if he decides he needs to pursue a better offer elsewhere or if Jazz brass decides they can’t come to an agreeable compromise with him, I would completely understand if he joined another team.

And while I’d hate to see him in an opposing team’s uniform, you can bet that I’d cheer for him in nearly every game he played. Once a Jazzman, always a Jazzman.