Favors on free agency: Jazz 'want me back, and I want to come back'

While Derrick Favors' relationship with the Utah Jazz hasn't always been rosy, the unrestricted free-agent power forward is optimistic about a return to the franchise he's played for over the last seven-and-a-half seasons.

“The communication has been good,” Favors told The Salt Lake Tribune's Tony Jones. “I’m pretty sure me and my agent (Wallace Prather) will get a meeting set up, and we’ll figure some things out. I know they want me back, and I want to come back. But, it’s a business and a numbers game, so we’ll have to see.”

Favors is coming off a regular season in which he made 77 starts, averaging 12.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game. While the towering frontcourt combo of Favors (6-foot-10) and recently named Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert (7-foot-1) doesn't create much space on offense, the Jazz outscored opponents by 7.2 points per 100 possessions with the two on the court together last season.

Favors has spent nearly his entire career with the Jazz (500 games) after being acquired in a 2011 trade from the then-New Jersey Nets midway through his rookie campaign as one of the key pieces in the Deron Williams blockbuster.

He survived consistent roster turnover throughout a four-year stretch missing the playoffs (2013-16) to become the team's longest-tenured player.