New Orleans Pelicans: In Appreciation of Derrick Favors

Derrick Favors rebounds at a high rate for the New Orleans Pelicans.

So Favors shoots efficiently and does a decent job of setting up his teammates to score, how well does he rebound? At 9.9 rebounds per game Favors is one of the better rebounders in the game, ranking 17th in the NBA. If we tweak that leaderboard to look at rebounds per 36 Favors jumps up to 14th overall with 14.7, that’s higher than his former teammate Rudy Gobert (14.4).

The Per 36 numbers are a little closer to what we could predict for the playoffs should the Pelicans reach that goal with Favors still on the roster. A note about that, Favors has averaged more rebounds this season than Anthony Davis or any other Laker has individually, the problem being that Los Angeles has three players on the rebounding leaderboard before the Pels get to their second (Zion with 6.8).

What makes Favors so valuable to New Orleans is his rebounding percentage, the percentage of rebounds he grabs while on the floor. When looking at this Favors again finishes 17th in the league grabbing a board 21.5% of the time that he’s in the game. That’s almost seven percentage points higher than the next Pelican, Jahlil Okafor with 14.8% and almost ten points higher than his backup Jaxson Hayes (12.3%).

When Favors takes a breather the other team is much more likely to grab a rebound than when Favors is on the floor. One way that Gentry combats this is by playing Josh Hart more when Favors is getting some rest, as Hart is one of the best rebounding guards in the NBA.

One of Favors distinguishing traits is his defensive rebounding, in particular, he gets nearly 30% of all defensive boards when he’s in the game (29%); that’s better than Deandre Ayton (27%), Nikola Jokic (26.9%), and Karl Anthony-Towns (26.1%).

Even looking at offensive rebounding Favors stands out against the other big-name centers in the NBA. His 14.1 offensive rebounding percentage is 17th in the NBA ahead of rebounding monsters like Clint Capela (13.7) and Hassan Whiteside (13.4) and just behind Steven Adams (14.4) who this year isn’t just boxing out so that Russell Westbrook can get triple-doubles.

Each of those boards grabbed on offense is another chance for the New Orleans Pelicans to score and each rebound secured in his own defensive half stops the opponents from extending a possession.

There aren’t many players in the NBA that combine the level of efficient scoring and fantastic rebounding as Favors who get fewer touches. Favors averages just 44.7 touches per game and just 1.34 seconds per touch (both fewer than Zion), he’s the ultimate move the ball teammate.

A player like Favors lessens the load on the rest of the lineup by doing the dirty work and playing team-first basketball that allows his teammates to take more and better shots because of that work. It’s no coincidence that the New Orleans Pelicans traded for Favors to help lead a team that was made up primarily of players under 25 before the season.

Let’s hope David Griffin knows what he has with Favors and can keep him in the crescent city for a few more years and hopefully a few deep playoff runs.