This is the preface to “there just weren’t any deals out there.”
And there may not be. Favors will be an UFA. As such, I think he only has value to:
1. A contender who needs a big. But it's very difficult to match salaries. Who else has a need for a C/PF and expirings that could match up?
a. Cleveland? Only if Cleveland sees moving Love back to the 4 and Favs at the 5 improves the team enough over having TT at center. But even at that, Frye is only $7M. Still need to come up with the difference. Alternately, TT could be the trading chip. However, I don't see Utah wanting 2 more years of Thompson at $16M, even if they added Osman or their late 1st. Favors and Hood for TT and the BKN pick is a trade I'd say would be fair, but I doubt that happens.
b. New Orleans? We sure as hell don't want 2 more years of Asik's salary. And TBH, teams may want a more mobile PF to compete against the lineups they'll face. Favs only translates as a 5, IMO.
2. As a matching asset in a trade with a non-playoff team. If one of those teams wants an expiring, then Favors or JJ could be dealt. For example, Mirotic. Or in a deal for Fournier. But teams may prefer to take a chance on Burks.
The Jazz will make moves. Letting Favors and Hood walk in free agency would be a disaster. Re-signing one or both to a stupid amount of money and screwing up our flexibility would be an even bigger disaster. Moves HAVE to be made. There is a 0% chance of this deadline coming and going with the Jazz doing nothing.
I would add that taking on a 2-3 year bad deal might be a bigger disaster than letting Favs walk. Because of his cheap salary and the fact he'll be a RFA, Hood potentially has 29 suitors, while Favs' pool is very small.
I think trading Favors may come down to who Chicago wants in a trade for Mirotic. Do they want an expiring, or would they rather have Burks and see what he can contribute next year. Actually the latter would be preferable as it frees up cap room and lets the Jazz make other trades without worrying about his salary on the books.