Utah Jazz: Could Derrick Favors Be Nearing a Return?

The evidence is still spotty, but there are encouraging signs that Derrick Favors may be returning to action for the Utah Jazz sooner rather than later.

The Utah Jazz have teased us all year long, showing off glimpses of brilliance at times and appearing like an utter trainwreck on other occasions. Take last week’s win over the Houston Rockets as one of those bright moments and contrast it to the disaster that was the home loss to the Chicago Bulls the week before.

It’s no coincidence that the solid team performances have lined up with when Utah has been the most healthy and the bad losses have coincided with some major injury issues. The Jazz’s leading scorers, Gordon Hayward and George Hill, are a perfect 5-0 when they both have played together.

Both did a commendable job of keeping the Jazz afloat when they played solo as Hill led the Jazz to a big win against the Spurs sans Hayward and Hayward helped Utah go 4-1 on their early five-game Eastern Conference road trip and has been on a tear in recent games.

However, given that the Jazz are just 3-3 without Hayward and 4-6 without Hill, it’s clear that the two are simply better together, as is the Jazz team as a whole when both are active.

Yet the one key piece that has been missing nearly the entire season has been Derrick Favors. While the Jazz have been incredible with both Hill and Hayward in the lineup, there’s no telling how good they’d be if a fully healthy Favors was around to dominate the paint and excel in the pick-and-roll.

That trio has only taken the floor together in one contest, a win over the New York Knicks, which was the game where George Hill injured his thumb. Favors would go on to play in Utah’s next five games before finding himself sidelined as well with a bone contusion on his knee.

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On the year, Favors has had a couple of solid games, most notably the second contest of the year in which a refreshingly passionate and emotional D-Faves helped give the Jazz an edge over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers as well as Utah’s win over the Magic where he posted a season-high 18 points to go along with nine rebounds.

However, in most of his court time, Favors has looked far from himself as it’s been clear that he has been bothered by injury. His low season averages are a further testament to the struggles he’s had this year as over his 11 games played he’s put up just 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.

So although Favors was projected to be a major piece of the Utah Jazz’s success this season, instead fans have been left dreaming what a fully healthy trio of Hill, Hayward and Favors could do.

Yet, while I hate to add to the teasing Jazz fans have had to endure since the offseason, there are some reassuring signs that Favors could be back in action sooner rather than later. While he still is considered out indefinitely with no time table, he was spotted getting some shots up on the court during pre-game of the game against the Nuggets on Saturday.

While these clips aren’t nearly as reassuring as when we saw George Hill return to full practice shortly before he made his return after spraining his thumb, it’s still good to see Favors out on his feet and making moves towards the basket.

What’s more interesting is that while George Hill did not travel with the team to LA for Utah’s contest tonight against the Lakers, Derrick Favors was present at Jazz shootaround at Santa Monica High School this morning as you can see in the picture on the left below:

So while there’s been no reported change in Favors’ status, there’s some behind the scenes action going on that makes me feel optimistic that we may very well see D-Faves back in action before month’s end.

Let’s not forget that Gordon Hayward came back much quicker than anticipated from his injury and Hill’s return came on very short notice, so the fact that it’s been quiet on the Jazz injury report front doesn’t necessarily mean that there haven’t been any improvements in his condition or that a return isn’t nearing.

So even though it’s been a frustrating start to the season as far as health is concerned, it’s appearing that Utah’s luck may be slowly but surely turning around (knock on wood).

With Favors appearing to be a more active on-court participant, Hill reportedly likely to return either Tuesday or Thursday and Hayward looking every bit as healthy and effective as we’ve seen him, the team that we were teased this summer may be not much more than a mere handful of games away from finally coming together (setting Alec Burks to one side because that’s a whole other story).

While I’ve really enjoyed this season so far, I know that watching Derrick Favors in action has been a huge aspect that I’ve missed and his absence has been among the top frustrations surrounding Jazz basketball this year.

Nevertheless, there are still plenty of games left for Favors to return and make an impact for this Jazz squad. And if the evidence we’ve seen in the past couple days is any indicator, his return to action may not be too far off.

Let’s just say for the sanity of Jazz fans everywhere, hopefully come Christmas time, we’ll be watching Hill to Favors pick and rolls to our heart’s content.

More from The J-Notes

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• Best, Worst and Most likely scenarios for the Utah Jazz this season
• Hoops Hype downplays the significance of the Utah Jazz’s valuable assets
• 3 Utah Jazz players who have the most to gain or lose this season
• Former Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay is a free agent still and it shouldn’t surprise anyone

And hopefully that injury bug will finally go into winter hibernation and Favors’ long-awaited return will turn these frustrating early season health struggles into nothing more than a distant memory.