Western Notes: Favors, Cousins, Donovan, Lakers

Jazz forward Derrick Favors has seen his name surface in several trade rumors over the years, but the 27-year-old remains the longest-tenured player on the active roster. The latest rumor of Utah expressing interest in Bulls forward Jabari Parker once again brought forward the idea of trading Favors, who is taking everything with a grain of salt.

“I was telling one of the coaches, I could go back years and years ago and I can name each guy I was supposed to get traded for,” Favors said before the Jazz-Rockets game on Monday, according to Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. “Every year, I can just name them so I have fun with it, I enjoy it.

“Definitely use it as motivation. But I have fun with it most of the time because most of the time I look forward to it, like ‘Who am I going to get traded for this year? Who they want me to get traded for? Where the rumors at?’ so I enjoy it.”

Favors’ awkward fit alongside Rudy Gobert could once again force the team to explore trading him, with the Georgia Tech product averaging 11.1 points and seven rebounds per game this season. He’s started in 26 of 31 games so far and signed a two-year, $40MM deal to stay with the club this past free agency.

There’s more from the Western Conference tonight:

• Warriors coach Steve Kerr has stressed patience on DeMarcus Cousins‘ eventual return, Mark Medina of The Mercury News writes. Cousins suffered a torn Achilles this past January and remains several games away from returning. “We’re not right there. It’s still going to be some time,” Kerr said. “We’re going to be patient and continue to give DeMarcus the space he needs to prepare. When the time is right, we’ll have some things planned for him.”
• Brett Dawson of The Athletic breaks down the Thunder‘s decision to pick up coach Billy Donovan‘s option for next season, detailing why the front office is happy with the direction Donovan is guiding the team. Oklahoma City holds the league’s fourth-best record at 20-10, including a stellar 12-3 home record, and has played with great enthusiasm and effort so far this season.
• Rajon Rondo (hand) and Brandon Ingram (ankle) participated in full practice Thursday as they continue to work toward returning, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. The two players were assigned to the South Bay Lakers, G League team of the Lakers, this past week to help expedite their recoveries and allow them to practice further.