Veteran Derrick Favors is Embracing His New Leadership Role in OKC
Al Horford’s trade to Boston left a veteran leadership vacuum in Oklahoma City.
The return of center Mike Muscala will help bring back some of the experienced leadership from last season, but Sam Presti made another move this offseason to push it over the top.
Also filling the void at center left on the court by Horford, the OKC Thunder acquired veteran Derrick Favors from Utah in a move which helped the Jazz ease their financial burden.
An 11-year veteran, Favors has plenty of on-the-court experience he can bring, but he’s also watched plenty of guys lead off the court, something which he hopes to replicate for a young Thunder core this season.
“I was once the young player on the team and I had vets around me that helped me out,” Favors said during Thunder Media Day on Monday. “And throughout the years as I've got older, there's always younger players coming in, then as an older player you kind of gravitate towards the younger guy, help them out.
“It's kind of something that I haven't been put in this position before, but it's kind of something that I'm excited about.”
Favors said he’s always gravitated to the younger guys on his prior teams anyways, so he’s excited to join the youngest roster in the NBA.
“I want to be around younger guys because they kind of — they have fun,” he said. “They kind of keep me young. At the same time, with trends and music and all that kind of stuff, it's fun.”
The move to Oklahoma City could be a shock to the system for some as Favors left a Western Conference contender in Utah for the team projected to have the worst record in the league.
And while Favors did admit it was a little shocking at first, OKC’s reputation of doing right by their veterans made things easier. Plus, Favors also said he didn’t want to be a player who held out to force a move, as that’s not the person he said he wanted to be.
“I think if you come into a situation like this and you do right by the team, by the organization, you be a professional, you do the right stuff, then I think they'll help you out,” Favors said. “Also, as you can see by Al Horford and Chris Paul, obviously.
“You just do right. Come in, do your job, be a professional, be a good teammate, be a good player. When you're out there on the court, just try to be a positive, not a negative out there, and good things will happen for you.”
For however long he’s in Oklahoma City, the Thunder will hope to get a similar level of production out of Favors that he posted during his brief stay in New Orleans.
Favors posted a career-high 9.8 rebounds per game with the Pelicans, while also contributing 9.0 points, 1.6 assists and 0.9 points per contest.
Current Thunder player Kenrich Williams actually played with Favors during his stint in New Orleans, and Williams said he was excited when he learned that he would once again be reunited with the former Georgia Tech star.
“Great guy. Real stand-up guy,” Williams said on Monday. “He was great for us when I played in New Orleans. He was a great leader. Definitely led by example.
“I think for this team and for the younger guys on the team, he's a good person for kind of players to look up to. Not look up to in the way of playing, but as far as being a professional, he's one of the best at it.”
Despite the low expectations ahead of the 2021-22 season, Favors did acknowledge that the Thunder have nice young pieces in guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort and Darius Bazley.
Favors said he sees it as his job to counsel them throughout the season, and try to pass along any experience that he can while he is a member of the Thunder.
“They're talented, they're just young,” he said. “You've got to go through the learning pains and growing pains, and something I can add to that is just experience because I was in their shoes years ago when I was on a team and we was rebuilding, wasn't winning many games, but we was talented.
“I just want to help them out as much as I can, for however long I'm here. I just want to help those guys out as much as I can and be that leader, that voice for them that they need whenever they need to ask questions or going through a long season there's a lot of ups and downs, and sometimes players need somebody to talk to that they can relate to, and just be that for them.”
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