Derrick Favors Wants To Be Back With Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After the conclusion of the 2018-19 season, Utah Jazz big man Derrick Favors expressed his interest to return to the franchise for his ninth season.

“I’d prefer to come back here,” Favors said. “I need my team option picked up. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I am not going to look at that I can start for most teams,” he added.

Favors signed a two-year contract last season with the first year guaranteed and the Jazz holding a team option for the second season.

He finished the regular season averaging 11.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, while shooting 62 percent from the field.

I prefer to come back here. I need my team option picked up. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. – Derrick Favors

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 25, 2019

Attracting Free Agents

The Jazz will put their name out there to attract upcoming free agents and Favors thinks that the Jazz organization and the community is attractable to free agents.

“It’s a great place to be,” he said. “The organization is first class, Quin [Snyder] is a great coach. You have to give it a try. It’s a winning environment and I think there are guys who would like to come out here, but it might not be the right situation. I think free agents are thinking about Utah,” Favors stated.

Reflection On The Season

After their 4-1 series elimination in the first round of the NBA Playoffs to the Houston Rockets, Favors summed up the season with highs and lows. He improved his play since January 1, averaging a career-high effective field goal percentage of over 60 percent.

“I got comfortable in my role, coming off the bench and playing the backup center position,” he added. “I bought into it as the season went on. I wasn’t stressing about being involved in the offense as much. I was going out there and playing hard basically, finding my role and finding different ways to be effective in the pick-and-roll and offensive rebounding,” Favors said.

When asked about the season as a whole, Favors pointed out the slow start to the season.

“I think we have room for improvement,” he said. “I think we started the season off really slow. But as the season went on we got better and started winning games that we were supposed to win and beat a lot of good teams. As far as the playoff matchup goes, we had bad luck with our shooting,”

Longest Tenured Jazz Player

Favors has been on the Jazz roster longer than any player currently playing for the franchise. He just finished his 8th season in a Jazz uniform.

“Not too many guys can play for one franchise for 8 seasons,” Favors said. “Hopefully it can be 9 or 10 years. It is a blessing on my side because I don’t have to worry about moving all the time or worrying about what team I am going to be on,” he added.

Before he departed for the Boston Celtics two years ago, Gordon Hayward joined Favors as the longest tenured player on the roster.

Favors was drafted in 2010 as the third overall pick to the New Jersey Nets before being traded to the Jazz after 56 games for Deron Williams.