Update: Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune:
League sources: Second year of Favors deal is non-guaranteed
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) July 2, 2018
That makes what looked like a slight overpay by the Jazz far better. They’re paying extra this year, when they have money to spend, for more flexibility next year -- when they might need it.
The Jazz have been grappling with fitting Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors, two fairly traditional bigs, together offensively for years.
That will remain a challenge in Utah.
Shams Charania:
Free agent Derrick Favors has agreed to a two-year, $36M-plus deal with the Utah Jazz, agent Wallace Prather tells Yahoo.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2018
This is reasonable value for Favors, 26. I’m not sure he could have gotten more elsewhere, but the Jazz – firmly in the mix in the loaded Western Conference – didn’t want to lose the talented player in unrestricted free agency.
Gobert and Favors form a stout tandem defensively and on the glass. Even though neither spaces the floor well, they’ve learned how to position themselves to minimize the downside of their pairing. Donovan Mitchell’s ability to get buckets in tight spaces certainly helps, allowing Utah to keep the defensive presences on the floor together.
Favors will also slide to center when Gobert sits. That’s Favors’ best position in a vacuum, and he can play with a more modern power forward like Jae Crowder, Jonas Jerebko or Thabo Sefolosha.
The Jazz might prefer someone who fits better with Gobert, but they weren’t going to get a better overall player than Favors. So, this works just fine.
