Can Derrick Favors finally stretch the floor?
For the last few seasons, we have all waited with bated breath for Derrick Favors to start taking and making the corner three at a higher rate. Could this be the year?
We saw the benefits of having a stretch four playing next to Rudy Gobert last season. When Gobert was paired with Jae Crowder in the latter parts of the season, the Jazz looked unstoppable at times. They had an offensive rating of 107.4, and an astounding defensive rating of 91.6.
The Jazz will continue to be great defensively, but if Favors can find a way to stretch out to the corner three, then they can also be great offensively.
Remember Game 2 of the OKC playoff series? Derrick Favors propelled the Utah Jazz to a victory, behind a dominant 20-point, 16-rebound game. The most surprising factor to that game though, was Favors shooting 2-of-3 from three.
Favors only made two threes in a game four times all of last season. He only attempted three threes in a game five times last year.
The biggest questions for Favors this next season may not be how high of a percentage he can shoot, but how many threes can he attempt per game. He didn’t even attempt one three per game last season. My prediction is that Favors will attempt at least two threes per game in 2018-19, but we’ll learn much more as the team starts camp and preseason begins.