Utah Jazz never offered Derrick Favors in trade to Cavaliers?
By Bryan Rose
Over the course of the past week, we’ve heard a lot of rumors leading up to the 2014 NBA Draft. One of those rumors suggested that the Utah Jazz, looking to move up to the No. 1 pick, offered the Cleveland Cavaliers a trade package which included the No. 5 pick and Derrick Favors (among other assets).
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Nothing ever came of it (at least not yet) and that’s because members of the Utah Jazz’s front office say no such deal was ever offered, adamantly suggesting that Favors was never mentioned in any trade talks.
“Multiple Jazz FO Execs are steadfast in denying Derrick Favors was ever asked about, nor offered in potential trade with the Cavs.”
It doesn’t seem as if there was any denying of potential talks on the part of the Jazz, so that part may have been correct. However, the Utah front office says Favors wasn’t even brought up.
Now, if there were talks between the two teams, one would think that Favors’ name would have come up at some point as would have most players. That doesn’t mean the Jazz would have been open to trading him, but he is a very solid asset and one that the Cleveland Cavaliers would likely have their eye on if they were thinking about making such a move.
It could be the Jazz attempting to smooth things over with Favors before the start of the season as understandably, no player wants to hear their name in a trade rumor. Still, at least according to the Jazz, Favors leaving Utah was never a possibility.