Derrick Favors
Last, but certainly not least, is Derrick Favors. In some ways, Favs has been absolutely phenomenal. He’s shooting a career-high 58.7 percent from the field even while attempting to extend his range beyond the 3-point line. Even on that note, he’s shooting 29.2 percent from the perimeter, which is nothing to write home about, but is just as good as Crowder, and actually better than Donovan Mitchell, Dante Exum, Raul Neto, Grayson Allen and Thabo Sefolosha. Wow.
Not only that, but while his lessened minutes have hurt his per-game numbers, his per-36 marks are quite encouraging. He’s at 16.5 points and 11.1 rebounds, which are near his career-best. Favors has been a nice offensive weapon for the Jazz, especially in the pick-and-roll, and while he’s no Rudy Gobert on defense, he’s still a dependable rim protector.
However, oddly enough, Favors has been poor in terms of plus/minus and net rating. He’s negative in both at a net rating of minus-7.8 and a plus/minus of minus-3.7. Surprisingly, three of Utah’s bottom four in terms of plus/minus are Jazz power forwards, bringing further light to their struggles without a true stretch-four which their system definitely needs.
So, in short, Favors has been solid and a great piece for the Jazz. But at times his impact on the court hasn’t always been positive. That’s a reason for some concern but I don’t think that entirely falls on Favors’ shoulders and I don’t necessarily believe it’s a trend that will continue.
Last of all, Derrick deserves high praise for absolutely excelling in his role of doing whatever is asked of him. Despite the fact that he is talented enough to be playing major minutes for most teams, he’s taken on a lesser role to fit what the Jazz need. When asked to come off the bench in a recent contest against Sacramento, Derrick took the task on without question.
In those regards, considering that he continues to be just what the Jazz need him to be and works his tail off night in and night out, I’m willing to overlook some of his apparent shortcomings. I’d like to see him increase his scoring slightly and become a bit more reliable from mid-range, but his incredible field goal percentage can’t be overlooked, and the hustle he puts in every night is undeniably important. His grade reflects just that.
First-quarter grade: B+
Other first-quarter grades:
Point Guards (Rubio, Exum, Neto)
Shooting Guards (Mitchell, Allen)
Small Forwards (Ingles, O’Neale)
Centers (Bradley, Udoh, Gobert)