Utah Jazz 2018-19 player grades: Derrick Favors excels in role

Despite less opportunity than he perhaps deserved, Derrick Favors still came up big time and time again for the Utah Jazz.

As the longest tenured Utah Jazz player, Derrick Favors has become an absolute staple and fan favorite in Salt Lake City. Not only is he beloved for how talented of a player he is or his awesome personality and influence off the court, but he’s widely appreciated for his team-first and unselfish mentality.

Because let’s face it, Favors is skilled enough to be taking on a much larger role and extended playing time on a different team. Instead, he’s found a groove on this Jazz team and is thriving in the opportunities he’s given. Rather than complain about being under utilized or not having a key role all the time, he’s instead embraced the challenge and focused on doing what’s best for the team.

Doing so meant that Favors posted his lowest minutes per game average this past season since 2012-13. Honestly, I find that somewhat disappointing considering all that Derrick is capable of bringing to the floor. But considering the awkward non-shooting fit that exists with Favors, Rudy Gobert and Ricky Rubio all on the floor together, it’s not that surprising that he’d be the one to find his playing time reduced.

The incredible news is that despite that limited playing time, Favors still posted a season that could be argued as the best of his career. Sure, 11.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game weren’t anywhere near his career-best marks, but his per-36 numbers were eye-opening – 18.3 points and a career-best 11.4 rebounds.

Derrick Favors was also ultra efficient, logging a career-high field goal percentage of 58.6 despite taking 1.6 threes per game. Remove his noble attempt at stretching the floor out of the equation and Favors’ inside game was about as on-point and accurate as one could hope for. He also posted the best plus/minus (plus-2.4) of his career as well as dominating in several advanced metrics.

In short, the only thing holding Favors back from having a near-perfect season was the fact that his opportunities – due to roster makeup and no fault of his own – were limited. Not only was his impact sensational as he filled an incredible role for the Jazz as a workhorse, offensive rebound extraordinaire and efficient scorer, but Favors looked as healthy and athletic as ever throughout the 2018-19 season.

In years prior, he had been set back by leg injuries and other issues, but this season he was effective all year long, appearing in 76 of 82 games.

Not only that, but he was the unsung hero of Utah’s lone playoff win this season in Game 4 versus Houston with key baskets, rebounds and hustle plays, particularly down the stretch. Even though the Jazz didn’t enjoy much playoff success this season, Derrick continued his streak of playing an instrumental role in Jazz playoff victories as they likely would have been swept without him and I believe strongly that had he received more minutes in Game 5 it could have made a big difference.

It would be nice if Derrick could stretch the floor a little better, considering that he shot just 21.8 percent from three. But it’s hard to fault a guy who’s trying to add a skill that was formerly completely foreign to him. And his effort and strides in that regard have still been helpful and impressive.

In a lot of ways, you could argue that Favors deserves an A+ for the season considering the way he constantly makes the team better and the fact that he sacrifices immense individual opportunity to do what’s best for the Jazz team. However, because the nature of his role on the team limits his playing time somewhat, I’m unfortunately going to give him slightly lower marks.

2018-19 Grade: A-

Still, you have to love all that Favs does for the Jazz. And if he continues to improve in minor areas and if Quin somehow magically finds him more opportunities, there’s nothing stopping him from having an A+ year in 2019-20.