THE FLATS – The NBA is in off-season mode for a brief time, with the league and the players association having agreed to a start date of Dec. 22 for the 2020-21 season, and the NBA draft next week (Nov. 18) … Derrick Favors remains a free agent while his 2019-20 team in New Orleans has hired a new coach in Stan Van Gundy, Thaddeus Young and Josh Okogie have completed off-season workouts with the Bulls and Timberwolves, respectively.
This week’s #ProJackets Report compiles more of the latest news, stories and social media posts on former Jackets and their activities of the past week.
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QUESTIONS PELICANS MUST ANSWER BY NEXT WEEK
From NOLA.com: Last season, the Pelicans fell to pieces any time Derrick Favors wasn’t in the lineup. When Favors played, they went 22-23. When he was unavailable, they went 6-13. Jaxson Hayes is good for at least one highlight dunk per game, but the 20-year-old still needs time to learn the basics of the game before he’s ready to take on a starting role.
Favors, who averaged 9.0 points and 9.8 rebounds in 24.4 minutes per game last season, is an unrestricted free agent. Sources told The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate that the 10-year NBA veteran would be receptive to playing for new coach Stan Van Gundy.
From Pelican Debrief: The Pelicans will definitely need a center if Derrick Favors leaves but it is probably the weakest position in the draft, with few guys who really fit what the Pelicans need.
Also from Pelican Debrief: Another part that gets glossed over when discussing Favors with New Orleans is how great a rebounder he is. Sure, averaging 9.8 rebounds per game doesn’t sound like something that would come from an elite rebounder and indeed Favors 501 total rebounds this season was nearly half of what the league leader Rudy Gobert had (916) but Favors did that in 1,100 fewer minutes. Favors was in the 90th percentile of “bigs” in terms of grabbing offensive rebounds and the 89th percentile on the defensive end. The only players to rank ahead of him in both categories were noted rebound gurus Enes Kanter, Andre Drummond, Dwight Howard, Hassan Whiteside, Clint Capela, and world-famous giant Boban Marjanovic.
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SHOULD THADDEUS YOUNG STAY WITH THE BULLS?
From the Athletic: Thaddeus Young and Tomáš Satoranský were good free-agent acquisitions last summer for the Bulls … But a new management team is now in place. And while the wait continues for actual transactions in the Arturas Karnisovas era, it’s worth pondering what will come of the Bulls’ oldest two players. The new regime is under no obligation to Young or Satoranský, although every team seeks the skills and selfless mentality each possesses. Both could return. Then there’s the possibility of it being one and done for them in Chicago.
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SIXERS PLAYOFF REWIND
The Philadelphia 76ers returned home in the 2009 NBA Playoffs with a 1-1 split and they now owned the home-court advantage with the Orlando Magic. In the edition of the playoff rewind, we take a look back at a clutch bucket from a former fan favorite.
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