The Los Angeles Lakers made the biggest splash they could possibly make and it occurred before both the 2019 NBA Draft and free agency.
The Lakers agreeing to a trade for Anthony Davis was a blockbuster move, but it is also just a first one as they must figure out how to best build the remainder of their roster.
The Lakers will seemingly look to go after one more big name to pair with Davis and LeBron James as the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Kemba Walker, and Jimmy Butler have all come up. There is also the chance that the Lakers could choose to split up their salary cap space in order to add multiple high-quality role players and one of those could be Derrick Favors.
According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, the Lakers remain interested in Favors and his game would be a good fit in Los Angeles:
What happens to Favors if he is forced to move on? Already, there have been rumblings of interest from the Los Angeles Lakers, where his style of play would be a nice fit with LeBron James. In fact, he projects as a fit in multiple places. He’s one of the better offensive pick-and-roll big men in the league, able to pop into space and splash jumpers or to take it to the basket and finish above the rim.
This is something that has been previously rumored as Sean Deveney of Sporting News reported the Lakers would have interest assuming the Jazz decline his team option:
Another guy who, according to sources, the Lakers have an interest in is big man Derrick Favors. The Jazz have a team option on Favors that must be exercised by July 6 or he will be a free agent.
The team’s interest makes a lot of sense. Davis will almost surely start at the center spot next to James and Kyle Kuzma, but having a bigger body to match up with some of the bigger centers in the league is a necessity. At 6’10” and 265 pounds, Favors can be that player.
He can play both the power forward and center positions and is capable of finishing at the rim as well as knocking down the mid-range jumper and shot a career-high 58.6% from the field during 2018-19 NBA season. He is also a more than capable rim protector who has averaged over a block per game in six of the last seven seasons.
The question is whether or not Favors will be available as the Jazz have control over that. He is owed $16.9 million for the 2019-20 season and the Jazz have until July 5 to make the decision on whether or not to retain him. Should they let him go, it will free up a ton of room for them to chase their own free agents whom they have been linked to.
