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Is Derrick Favors the best player on this team?

No, I'm not talking about 10 games. I like Hayward a lot. But he'd be the third most devastating guy to lose for the year. And he has no elite skill.

Incredibly solid player, but you tell me how he's better than Favors or Gobert. If Hayward went down I really wouldn't feel terrible about Burks and Hood. If Rudy or Favors went down.... You watch that Magic game?

its because you look at who's backing him up.


If Hayward goes down, in comes Burks.


If Gobert goes down, in comes Lyles/Pleiss/Withey. That's why Rudy is important. We have zero Center depth. If we lose Derrick, in comes Trevor Booker.
 
its because you look at who's backing him up.


If Hayward goes down, in comes Burks.


If Gobert goes down, in comes Lyles/Pleiss/Withey. That's why Rudy is important. We have zero Center depth. If we lose Derrick, in comes Trevor Booker.

So... You agree with me?
 
Hayward is our best player, but Favors is currently playing the best.

Gobert isn't the best, his offensive game is too limited, but he is irreplaceable.

Hood could become the best. Has all the tools, just needs to become consistent.

Disagree on the last point. I really llke Hood, but he's nowhere near having all the tools to be the best player on the team.
 
Hayward will be fine and Rudy will find his rhythm, but Derrick Favors is elevating his offensive game right before our eyes. Similar to Rudy's rise on defense last year, everyone will stop and notice before long.

By the end of the year, he's the guy that the offense will revolve around. His ability to move his shot out AND still play dominant in the post will be critical. He's abused Whiteside at C and Millsap at PF just in the past week. Crazy versatility. . . AND he's an elite defender.

PLUS, he's been acting like the veteran leader that this young team needs on and off the court. He's the real deal. SO excited!
 
Favors started the Hawks game so well, was a real bull on both ends. Though he got two quick fouls in Q1 and had to leave early. None of these was his mistake by the way. The first was a good foul and the second was a bogus call. He got frustrated and lost his rhythm in Q2 but managed to bounce back in the second half effectively winning the game for us when Hayward had another poor game.

This guy is getting better every year and is still young.
 
Rudy might be our most important player, but he isn't the 'best'. I don't know if that makes sense.

Basically, the way I see it, a season-ending injury to Rudy would be most damaging to the Jazz record this season.

With that said, I think Favors is becoming our best player (crazy). His defense is unreal, and his offense has been all-star calibre so far this season. If he sustains this play, there's simply no way that we don't make the playoffs. If we're 5-5 (with 8 away games) with Hayward playing like ***, i think it's safe to say that we're clearing 46-48 games this season barring significant injury.

As of now

1) Hayward
2) Favors
3) Gobert
4a) Alec
4b) Hood
5) Trey


That's a damn good core to develop for this season. I'm realizing how important the development of Trey Lyles is. If he can be the Odom to our Gasol and Bynum, that's simply huge for this team.

Next season, sign one more 3-point shooter, and maybe a top-shelf PG if Burke doesn't show starting panache. Cue playoff-run :)

Honestly, it's not crazy; after all, we traded Deron Williams for this guy. We knew it would take multiple years for him to develop into an All-Star (he was literally the youngest player in the league at the time). What's crazy is he still has a ways to go before reaching his peak.
 
Agree. Hayward is in a slump. Expect him to have a stretch where he completely dominates and erases his poor start. Favs is definitely the most improved and over the first 10 games has been the best. Hood just needs to become more consistent. Gobert has been kind of disappointing; he really hasn't improved.
In agreement about Gobert. I though he'd come out of the gate being a double-double machine. He really really needs to work on strengthening his hands. Rebounds and put-back attempts seem to get slapped loose out of his hands too easily at least 5-6 times a game. That's another 2-3 rebounds and 4-6 points per game right there.
 
Honestly, it's not crazy; after all, we traded Deron Williams for this guy. We knew it would take multiple years for him to develop into an All-Star (he was literally the youngest player in the league at the time). What's crazy is he still has a ways to go before reaching his peak.
Leading up to the 2010 draft, I recall hearing rumors/stories that the Jazz had Favors at the top of their draft board, but they had no way to move up in the draft to grab him. Several months later when the D-will trade went down, the first thing in my mind was that the Jazz finally got their man. Glad it worked out for us in the end.
 
Seems obvious at this point in time. Which is especially great considering he was the centerpiece of the Deron trade and that the Jazz let two all-stars walk in order to give him his chance.
 
I think Favors has actually been a better defender than Rudy this year.

Favors has a chance to average 16-10-2-2-2 this year. I wonder how many times that has been done in NBA history.

*Looked it up, has been done a handful of times by Hakeem and once by David Robinson*

Even if Favors just averaged 2 blocks and 2 steals, he'd be the first person to do that since Gerald Wallace in '06 and other than that, only Hakeem and David have done it.
 
Hayward will be fine and Rudy will find his rhythm, but Derrick Favors is elevating his offensive game right before our eyes. Similar to Rudy's rise on defense last year, everyone will stop and notice before long.

By the end of the year, he's the guy that the offense will revolve around. His ability to move his shot out AND still play dominant in the post will be critical. He's abused Whiteside at C and Millsap at PF just in the past week. Crazy versatility. . . AND he's an elite defender.

PLUS, he's been acting like the veteran leader that this young team needs on and off the court. He's the real deal. SO excited!

good post, but how did he abuse Millsap?
 
I think Favors has actually been a better defender than Rudy this year.

Favors has a chance to average 16-10-2-2-2 this year. I wonder how many times that has been done in NBA history.

*Looked it up, has been done a handful of times by Hakeem and once by David Robinson*

Even if Favors just averaged 2 blocks and 2 steals, he'd be the first person to do that since Gerald Wallace in '06 and other than that, only Hakeem and David have done it.

Good post
 
Hayward will be fine and Rudy will find his rhythm, but Derrick Favors is elevating his offensive game right before our eyes. Similar to Rudy's rise on defense last year, everyone will stop and notice before long.

By the end of the year, he's the guy that the offense will revolve around. His ability to move his shot out AND still play dominant in the post will be critical. He's abused Whiteside at C and Millsap at PF just in the past week. Crazy versatility. . . AND he's an elite defender.

PLUS, he's been acting like the veteran leader that this young team needs on and off the court. He's the real deal. SO excited!
Good post. Can't disagree with any of it.

Favors looks like a star player right now with his combination inside/out offensive game along with elite defense.
He is playing incredible. I just wish his free throw % would go up.
 
In agreement about Gobert. I though he'd come out of the gate being a double-double machine. He really really needs to work on strengthening his hands. Rebounds and put-back attempts seem to get slapped loose out of his hands too easily at least 5-6 times a game. That's another 2-3 rebounds and 4-6 points per game right there.
Gobert also gets mugged on every rebound and gets zero respect from the refs in those situations.
Total BS
 
good post, but how did he abuse Millsap?
I saw him abuse millsap. I remember him bullying millsap under the basket to make a nice lefty layup.... Posted him up for a fadeaway 10 footer...... Got an offensive rebound over him for a putback and one.... Blew by sap for a layup when sap closed out to the free throw line to stop the open jumper.... Got an offensive rebound over sap and passed out to reset the possession.
Those are just the ones I remember.
I figure there was probably at least one time that sap left favors open for one his mid range J's and I bet favors blocked sap at least once.
 
I don't know if he is or isn't, I just know that I want him to continue coming correct in games.
 
So we've agreed that Hayward isn't the most important player. But I still haven't seen any actual evidence that he's the best. Except for people saying that he is. And if we are talking offense AND defense, I don't even think it's very close.

Most Important:
Favors
Gobert
Hayward
Burke (imagine if he wasn't here.)
Burks

Best:
Favors
Hayward
Gobert
Burks
Hood
 
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