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https://www.grantland.com/story/_/i...ony-davis-evan-turner-nba-all-intriguing-team
F/C: Derrick Favors, Utah Jazz
There is still huge optimism around Favors as he enters his fourth season; a slight majority of league executives I polled in the summer said they would take Favors over DeMarcus Cousins long-term. But the idea that Favors might be a true franchise player took a bit of a hit last season, when his developmental curve flattened out.
The questions come mostly on offense, where accumulated flashes of brilliance make Favors appear much more productive than he actually is. He's explosive enough to catch the ball on a pick-and-roll near the foul line and dunk without a dribble — a proto–Tyson Chandler. But Favors shot just 42 percent out of the pick-and-roll last season, a shockingly low number; that mark ranked 90th among 112 players who finished at least 50 pick-and-rolls as the roll man last season, per Synergy, and lots of the guys below him were pick-and-pop shooters.
The cause jumps off the tape: Favors just takes too many tough shots. He gets a little skittish when he catches the ball in space and sees a third help defender waiting for him, in part because he's not yet confident as a passer on the move. Utah ran Favors in a ton of side pick-and-rolls, especially on the right wing, and Favors would often settle for a tricky little jumper from the edge of the paint after catching the ball, turning to face the hoop, and seeing a defender in his way:
Those look like easy shots, but they're not; the league as a whole shoots about as poorly from that in-between range as it does on long 2-pointers. And if he doesn't take that sort of jumper, Favors will sometimes just career into bodies without a plan.
And yet the positive finishes are so, so tantalizing. If he has enough space, he can catch and dunk before the defense can react. And he'll sometimes catch, take one dribble, and loft a feathery lefty layup that could make Matt Harpring just start screaming "JAZZ NATION!" over and over until he dissolves into a puddle.
The same dichotomy is true of Favors's post-up game — lots of very difficult misses sandwiched around a few spins and drop steps and jump hooks that find their way in. Favors will get many more chances this season with Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap gone, and Utah's defense has always been stingier with Favors on the floor. He's quick enough to contain pick-and-rolls in any defensive system, he's already one of the 15 or so best two-way rebounders in the league, and he's a legitimately terrifying help defender who alters shots he doesn't block. The Jazz were ultra-stingy last season when Favors and Enes Kanter shared the floor, but they'll have to prove that can translate against starter-level competition — and that Utah can score when they play together.
The lack of anything even resembling an average passing point guard will hurt, just as it did last season. Any big man looks better alongside a pick-and-roll partner who can get deep into a defense and time interior passes just right.
-Zach Lowe
