Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale took a deep-dive into role players around the league in his writing of the five most underrated players in the NBA.
New Orleans Pelicans big Derrick Favors was on the list.
For the biggest piece of evidence why he belongs, compare the Pelicans’ defensive efficiency in the first 25 games and that number since.
Favors only played in 10 of the first 25 games, and two of his appearances consisted of just eight minutes on the court.
In that time, the Pelicans ranked No. 28 in defensive rating at 114.4, according to NBA Stats.
Since, their defensive rating is 109.8, good for 10th-best in the league.
“This isn’t a coincidence. The Pelicans don’t have established depth behind Favors, and more importantly, he’s a steadying presence around the basket—someone who deters shots and limits second-chance scoring opportunities,” Favale writes.
When Favors is on the court, New Orleans’ defense improves by 5.3 points per 100 possessions, according to Favale.
“So while Jrue Holiday, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram all shoulder harder assignments on a game-to-game basis, Favors is the glue guy who helps hold everything and everyone together.”
It also helps how well Favors fits in with Zion Williamson on offense. While on the Utah Jazz, as Favale noted, Favors’ play style clashed with center Rudy Gobert as both prefer to play close to the basket.
Williamson can move with the ball well enough further out that allows him to extend the court and not clog the lane with Favors already in the post.
The team is plus-16.9 points per 100 possessions when both Favors and Williamson are on the court, according to Favale. While that’s a small sample size, it’s telling how much Favors’ fit in the rotation helps the team, even if he’s an not All-Star.
