Jazz trade Derrick Favors, first-round pick to Thunder

The Utah Jazz are trading center Derrick Favors and a future first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder, receiving a second-round pick back in a salary dump.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the terms of the deal, which comes a night after the Thunder traded the 16th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft to the Houston Rockets for two future first-round picks.

Favors, who signed a three-year, $29.16 million contract with Utah before the 2020-21 NBA season, served as a rotational big for the Jazz. Once the No. 3 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, the 6-foot-9 big came off the bench in all 68 regular-season games this past season.

After earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, Utah was looking for ways to shed salary this summer. With Oklahoma City rebuilding and general manager Sam Presti collecting numerous future picks, the Thunder emerged as a natural fit.

Given Oklahoma City spent a majority of its top picks Thursday night on guards, Favors should see significant minutes this upcoming season with his new team. Isaiah Roby projects as the starter and Aleksej Pokusevski will receive more minutes, but Favors will have an opportunity to contribute.

With Favors off the books, Utah will likely be able to keep Joe Ingles and Bojan Bogdanovic. Both were at the center of NBA trade rumors in recent weeks.