Derrick Favors
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Player Facts

Height: 6'9"
Weight: 265lbs.

Wingspan: 7'4"

Date of Birth: July 15, 1991
College Experience: Georgia Tech (1 year)

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 6
Physical Strength: 9
Positional Size: 8
Positional Wingspan: 9
Paint Scoring: 9
Midrange Scoring: 6
Three-Point Scoring: 2
Dribbling: 4
Passing: 5
Perimeter Defense: 5
Interior Defense: 8
Rebounding: 9

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Harmonious Big

> Rolling to Score

> Paint Touches + Passing

> Offensive Positioning

> Post Play + Second Chance Points

> Defensive Diversity

> Containing the Attack + Additional Defense

> Offensive Rigidity

> Persisting Offensive Problems

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

*All short clips courtesy of Smart Highlights & Z. Highlights (YouTube)

*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

Derrick Favors is a fundamentally sound big man at 6'9", 265lbs. He is a touch undersized at center but has the length and basketball smarts to overcome this obstacle. He is a highly efficient player around the basket while contributing largely mistake-free defense on the other end.

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Harmonious Big

Favors has always been able to stick on the floor despite his offensive limitations through doing the little things. One aspect of his game that would qualify as such is how well he runs the two-man game with his guards.

From gifted playmakers like Joe Ingles, Josh Giddey, and Ricky Rubio to more average ones like JJ Redick and Brandon Ingram, Favors has a long, diversified track record playing the complimentary big man role nicely.

He neatly fits into the screen-and-dive mold as a big. What he lacks in height he makes up for with nice hands and touch inside. Derrick is a great option to stick in the dunker spot as well, springing up quickly for two-hand jams off the interior feed.

Rolling to Score

After setting formidable ball screens, Derrick rumbles down the gut of the defense. He has all the rolling finishes you would want out of your big and has substantial roll gravity because of this.

In addition to his dunks and layups here, he will prematurely stop and pop for a short 15-footer to mix it up. Favors was in the 71st percentile for roll man scoring in 2018-2019 and the 61st in 2019-2020. 2021-2022 with OKC had him at 1.25 points per play on all cuts.

At the iron, Derrick is a highly accurate finisher. From 2017-2018 to 2019-2020 he shot 73.5%, 72.2% and 70.6% respectively at the rim. Looking deeper, Favors was able to finish 60% of his shots with a defender tight (2-4 feet away) and 58.9% with one very tight (0-2 feet away) in 2019-2020.

Paint Touches + Passing

Between his elite charge circle finishing and good touch on one-handed push shots, Derrick is extremely comfortable in the paint. 2019-2020 saw him notch 7.3 paint touches per game, shooting 67.6% in these situations. On both an efficiency and productivity level, he was sandwiched between Anthony Davis (7.4 touches on 70.9%) and Montrezl Harrell (7.2 touches on 67.4%).

Without huge assist totals, Favors displays some passing ability. He can swing it to an open shooter off the short roll for instance. Derrick will bounce it over to basket cutters as well with respectable precision.

Offensive Positioning

Off-ball on offense, Derrick flexes his smarts through his movement. As a center, blazing-fast cutting is not expected. Rather, Favors flashes into the middle, makes the dunker spot cut (moves from one block across to the other as teammate drives), or will otherwise just get himself into optimum rebounding position.

Post Play + Second Chance Points

As the game has moved away from the post-up, so too has Favors. He hasn't averaged more than two post-ups per night since 2016-2017 according to NBA Advanced Stats. However, his skill level hasn't waned much as he still has the wherewithal to burn size mismatches if given the chance.

Favors is a fierce, physical, and deceptively spry offensive glass cleaner. He employs that 265-pound body in tandem with his 7'4" reach to be prolific in this area.

Derrick snared north of four offensive boards per 36 minutes in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. These frequently yielded invaluable second chance points, to the tune of the 83rd percentile for putback scoring in 2018-2019.

Defensive Diversity

Derrick brings multiple positives on the defensive side. His length and bulk really play here, with nimble enough feet to backpedal under control against middle pick-and-rolls. He contains these actions quite nicely as he keeps his long arms out and active.

Derrick is serviceable enough on switches. He gets seated into his low stance and has some recovery ability for blocks from behind. In 2019-2020 he offered 8.8 contested two's per game. This outpaced Myles Turner, Serge Ibaka and Joel Embiid in much fewer minutes played.

Favors' body positioning on defense is arguably his greatest asset and the backbone of his value here. In 2018-2019, opponents shot -12.5% from within six feet of the rim with Derrick lurking there.

He is consistently in the right place at the right time, allowing for proper shot contests without hacking. He averaged merely 2.1 fouls per game in each season from 2016-2017 to 2019-2020.

Containing the Attack + Additional Defense

Where Derrick's immense wingspan shines most is as he's being attacked head-on. His length is maximized through his rapid reaction time whether it be contesting the attacker, breaking up a lob, or stumping the roll man. He was in the 70th percentile guarding pick-and-roll rollers in 2019-2020.

Closing out Favors' defensive résumé are his post defense and superb rebounding. With his footwork, high basketball IQ, and physical tools, Derrick can stonewall players trying to post him.

In the rebounding department, his 4.9 2019-2020 contested rebounds per game beat out Rudy Gobert, Nikola Vucevic, and Nikola Jokic. He was right at 14.5 total rebounds per 36 for the year.

WEAKNESSES

Offensive Rigidity

The vast majority of Derrick's shots are taken inside the restricted area. This is not necessarily a weakness in a vacuum, but it becomes one once you note how infrequently/poorly he shoots from everywhere else.

Even on non-restricted area paint shots, he shot only one per game on 38.5% in 2019-2020. He's got a decent midrange jumper but only attempted 28 of them in 2019-2020.

He has failed to adapt his offensive game to leaguewide trends. Favors cannot reliably pop out to three, nor can he be spacing the floor off-ball in a meaningful way. Combining his 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020 seasons, he hit 31 of 143 (21.7%) catch-and-shoot threes.

Persisting Offensive Problems

A flaw of several bigs, Favors cannot dependably create his own shot. He's fine in the post but looks lost dribbling out on the perimeter offensively. Derrick's subpar handle and total absence of a pull-up jump shot are his main blemishes here.

Derrick's offensive problem areas limit how and with whom he can play with inside the five-man unit. With stretchier, more explosive athletes populating the four-spot across the Association, Favors is relegated to playing the five to be effective. At 6'9", he has more of a four-man's size but is stuck playing center as a non-shooting big.

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bacon
Beacon Bacon

At 6'9" with a recorded 7'4" wingspan, Derrick's 7-inch difference is one of the larger height-wingspan disparities in the league