Favors and Kanter - keepers?

I think many of us had high hopes and visions for the Jazz youth and no more so than in the paint with Favors and Kanter. Well, Favors is now getting 21.5 mpg and is putting up 9 points and 6 rbs; Kanter is getting 15 mpg and putting up 6 pts and 4 rbs. Pretty pedestrian numbers, not sucky, not really promising either. While I will argue that we still have not seen Kanter's top end we are getting a good look at Favor's. Going forward with team re-building, which is going to happen, is there a good argument for keeping either player on the roster? I think because of their age and draft position a lot of GM's are going to over-value them in a trade scenario. Why not consider them to be good bargaining chips in trades that can land us better paint players?

Both are keepers. We haven't seen anything close to the maximum potential or ceiling of either player. They are just babes. Let them grow up a tad. Both will be very solid, very good bigs in the not too distant future, says I.

The Voice of Reason wrote:

Both are keepers. We haven't seen anything close to the maximum potential or ceiling of either player. They are just babes. Let them grow up a tad. Both will be very solid, very good bigs in the not too distant future, says I.

Not totally disagreeing with you but I am a little nervous they aren't showing more of the upward trajectory that GH is, and in Favors case at least, he has been in the big leagues just as long. I know that bigs can take more time to round into their game than smaller guys, but still. Favors is getting plenty of minutes to show what he can do and IMO we are not seeing a whole lot of "OMG, this guy is going to be a stud." GH clearly is a keeper and has Manu-like potential, but on the other side of the coin I'm not sure, based on what I've seen, that Favors and Kanter shouldn't be in trade discussions if said trade could deliver a bonafide big.

MTJazz wrote:

The Voice of Reason wrote:

Both are keepers. We haven't seen anything close to the maximum potential or ceiling of either player. They are just babes. Let them grow up a tad. Both will be very solid, very good bigs in the not too distant future, says I.

Not totally disagreeing with you but I am a little nervous they aren't showing more of the upward trajectory that GH is, and in Favors case at least, he has been in the big leagues just as long. I know that bigs can take more time to round into their game than smaller guys, but still. Favors is getting plenty of minutes to show what he can do and IMO we are not seeing a whole lot of "OMG, this guy is going to be a stud." GH clearly is a keeper and has Manu-like potential, but on the other side of the coin I'm not sure, based on what I've seen, that Favors and Kanter shouldn't be in trade discussions if said trade could deliver a bonafide big.

Hayward is a year older than Favors and has one more year of college experience as well. Plus he has had more minutes in the nba. Experience counts for a lot as these guys are growing up.

Personally, I disagree that Favors is getting "plenty of minutes to show what he can do". A player of his caliber needs more minutes than he is currently getting, yet how do you justify it with two good veterans starting ahead of him?

I don't think either Favors or Kanter are ready at this point to be handed the reins and say "here, it's your team, you go he the stud". However, I do think they both can, and are growing into that roll. It is happening ever so slowly, but they will both be very good cornerstones.
And you are absolutely right, GH is showing that he is going to be a pretty good player as part of the core of this team....but even he has moments where he is still showing some growing pains...although I think due to his high basketball IQ, he is learning at a much faster pace than the bigs, who as you mentioned, take longer to develop anyway.

I think the core of Kanter, Favors and GH will be a very good group for years to one if the jazz can keep them together

Favors and Kanter ARE keepers.
Exhibit A: tonight's game.
Granted, it was Cleveland, but they looked pretty darn good tonight.

The Voice of Reason wrote:

Favors and Kanter ARE keepers.
Exhibit A: tonight's game.
Granted, it was Cleveland, but they looked pretty darn good tonight.

Both keepers, just look at the first half? 9 minutes E K puts up 13 points 7 rebs 1 ast 2 blocks no TOs or PFs. Great half for both young bigs.Got us back into game after starters sucked it up.

PS Burks is looking pretty darn good aswell!

Richardale wrote:

The Voice of Reason wrote:

Favors and Kanter ARE keepers.
Exhibit A: tonight's game.
Granted, it was Cleveland, but they looked pretty darn good tonight.

Both keepers, just look at the first half? 9 minutes E K puts up 13 points 7 rebs 1 ast 2 blocks no TOs or PFs. Great half for both young bigs.Got us back into game after starters sucked it up.

PS Burks is looking pretty darn good aswell!

As I posted in another thread, why the F**k did Ty pull Enes when he had that going on? Corbin never ever rides the hot hand if it isn't one of his starters.

MTJazz wrote:

Richardale wrote:

The Voice of Reason wrote:

Favors and Kanter ARE keepers.
Exhibit A: tonight's game.
Granted, it was Cleveland, but they looked pretty darn good tonight.

Both keepers, just look at the first half? 9 minutes E K puts up 13 points 7 rebs 1 ast 2 blocks no TOs or PFs. Great half for both young bigs.Got us back into game after starters sucked it up.

PS Burks is looking pretty darn good aswell!

As I posted in another thread, why the F**k did Ty pull Enes when he had that going on? Corbin never ever rides the hot hand if it isn't one of his starters.

Kanter actually looked a little tired in the first half when he came out. The guy goes hard, I think after about 10 minutes on the court he gets a little gassed.

TheMagnus wrote:

MTJazz wrote:

Richardale wrote:

The Voice of Reason wrote:

Favors and Kanter ARE keepers.
Exhibit A: tonight's game.
Granted, it was Cleveland, but they looked pretty darn good tonight.

Both keepers, just look at the first half? 9 minutes E K puts up 13 points 7 rebs 1 ast 2 blocks no TOs or PFs. Great half for both young bigs.Got us back into game after starters sucked it up.

PS Burks is looking pretty darn good aswell!

As I posted in another thread, why the F**k did Ty pull Enes when he had that going on? Corbin never ever rides the hot hand if it isn't one of his starters.

Kanter actually looked a little tired in the first half when he came out. The guy goes hard, I think after about 10 minutes on the court he gets a little gassed.

Fun watching these young guns killing it. Hope Gordo gets healty soon.

Good to see Burks getting time. Ppl can dog Corbin but eventually he plays guys that produce. I'll take 28-22 right now with Mo out.

We all know how hard it is to get top free agents to look at Utah or even top players in trades and I am sure if the Jazz was offered a trade that would land them one of the top big's or a top PG that would improve the team and it involed these guys I am sure the Jazz would look at it and do what they think would be best for the team going forward but I like the way they are heading now.

These guys are growing and we all see it and a big reason is because of Jefferson working with them, he has really stepped up and became a leader to these kids and they like playing with him and are happy learning from him that's why I say keep this guy's around for as long as possible so they can soak up all they can from Jefferson before they are handed the starting jobs it is going to only make them better in the end.

I think Jefferson would make a great Player/Coach for the Jazz this might help keep him interested in staying around when these Kid's are ready to take over, Jefferson has really impressed me with the things he is showing these kids and it is making them better because of it.

The reason I started this thread was to get a discussion going with respect to how the Jazz build towards a more competitive product in the future. I think we all had the mindset that GH, Favors, Kanter and Burks were going to anchor a future better team than we see on the floor now. The question is, are these guys you build a team around? I think the jury is out. Yes, at least for the first three I think you try and re-sign or extend them commensurate with their value at that time (market value, not over-inflated values), because it looks likely that all three can evolve into decent starters. But future all-starish team leaders that one literally builds around? Time will tell, but it appears to me a team led by those 3 or 4 isn't going to be a much better product than what we have now. I mean if Kanter and Favors can replace Sap and Jefferson's production and game impact, a big if, aren't we right where we are now, with those guys surrounded by a bunch of older veteran filler material and GH? Just being devil's advocate here, but what if the Jazz use these guys in trades because some other GM is willing to overpay based on the ethereal "potential", and in return the Jazz get back proven established players? Plus, at this point I'm not convinced Burks is ever going to be a great sixth man or even average starter. I have become convinced that it takes as much luck as skill trying to assemble a contender-ish team in a small market, under the salary cap. Like GH or Kanter suddenly show signs of All-star material, something impossible to predict except with most #1 and #2 and sometimes #3 picks in a strong draft. For example, it was QUICKLY evident, it didn't take 4 years, to realize that Durant, Westbrook and Hardin were special players to build a team around. Out of that 3, only Durant had All-star written on him after the first year, the rest was good luck on OKC's part.

Man, just a reminder of how thoroughly raped NJ was in the Deron Williams deal:

Dwill for: Derrick Favors, Devin Harris (later traded for Marvin Williams), a first-round draft choice in 2011 (Enes Kanter) and a future first-round pick, which will be conveyed via Golden State this year. if the Warriors had lost a coin flip last spring the Jazz would have received the No. 8 pick and may have been able to acquire Weber State point guard Damian Lillard, who went to Portland at No. 6.

Can you imagine if that coinflip had gone the other way????
Dwill for FAvors/Kanter/Devin(Marv)/and Lilliard???? NJ would have been laughed at all year.

Wow! Yes, it is the Bobcats, at home, but Kanter in his first(?) start, 12 rbs and 12 pts in first half? Favors, on the other hand in this first half is looking pretty damn average against one of the worst paint rotations in the league.