I know that there’s a lot of frustration with Favors not ever taking the big step forward, but he’s still only 26 years old. He’s in his 8th year as a professional and is only 4 years older than Kyle Kuzma.
Heading into this season, despite multiple injury issues with both guys, arguably the worst PG situation in the league, and the fact that the Jazz have rolled out some atrocious 3 man groups to go with them. . . since Rudy Gobert took over the starting center job following the Enes Kanter trade, the Gobert/Favors starting frontcourt has won 60% of their games together. With one or the other (but not both - usually featuring Booker, Lyles or Diaw as the 2nd big) they’ve won 55% of their games together. With neither guy in the lineup, that drops to winning only 33% of their games.
Am I suggesting that starting Gobert/Favors together is perfect? Obviously not. But I’m convinced it’s not nearly as broken as we might believe it is. I think there’s a workable solution to keeping both Gobert and Favors together. . . and it begins with moving Rubio to the bench and playing Gobert, Favors, Jingles, Hood and Mitchell a lot together to see how the chemistry works.
2014/15
Together = 15 - 9 (63%)
One Starter = 4 - 1 (80%)
2015/16
Together = 26 - 23 (53%)
One Starter = 11 - 14 (44%)
Neither = 3 - 5 (38%)
2016/17
Together = 28 - 14 (67%)
One Starter = 23 - 16 (59%)
Neither = 0 - 1 (0%)