Derrick Favors Reportedly Signs 4 year, $49 Million Extension with Utah Jazz

Adrian Wojnarowski dropped one of his classic news bombs Friday evening, reporting that the Jazz have come to an agreement on an extension with Derrick Favors. The extension is reported to be for 4 years and $49 million, with incentives that could raise the total above the $50 million level. The deal keeps Favors in Utah until 2018.

The big money extension is in line with others signed this summer amongst talented big men. Sacramento PF DeMarcus Cousins’ extension was for 4 years and $62 million, an amount that Favors could have demanded in negotiations. Fellow paint protector Larry Sanders of the Milwaukee Bucks signed a 4 year, $44 million extension with his team earlier in the summer.

The deal is probably a slight overpay given Favors’ on court contributions right now, but would be an excellent deal given any improvement from the big man, just 22 years old. This is a back-of-the-envelope calculation, but Favors amassed 4.4 Win Shares last season according to basketball-reference.com, and under a value of $1.7 million dollars per win (the result of dividing total NBA salary by total NBA wins), the result is a player worth $7.5 million for last season’s contributions. If he maintains the same level of play for 36 minutes per game in this season, Favors is probably worth $11.2 million, close to the $12.25 he’ll be receiving in 2014-15. That being said, playing 36 minutes per game might be optimistic for Favors, who has had significant issues with foul trouble early in his career.

Still, should that improvement come, the deal could come to be regarded as a bargain along the lines of the first extensions of Al Horford, LaMarcus Aldridge, or Joakim Noah. All signed deals that were probably above their level of production when they were signed, but quickly became some of the best deals in the league.

Wojnarowski’s article also reported that Favors wanted to stay in Utah, a good sign for the Jazz given Utah’s league-wide reputation as being among a free agent’s least desired locations.

Fellow Jazzman Gordon Hayward is also up for an extension before the October 31st deadline. This signing probably makes it more likely that Hayward will eventually sign an extension as well: besides locking in a member of the core moving forward, it also shows a willingness by the Jazz to spend money on their young players that have been in supporting roles until this season.

This article will be updated with more on Favors’ extension as the night goes along, and expect more coverage from Salt City Hoops on the deal going forward.