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Northwest Notes: Favors, Timberwolves, Hardy, Lillard

September 20th 2022 at 10:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Derrick Favors‘ future with the Thunder is very much up in the air heading into training camp, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman.

Oklahoma City is three standard contracts over the limit but Favors’ expiring deal may be the most compelling reason he’ll make the 15-man roster. His $10,183,800 cap hit could prove useful in a trade.

He’s still a serviceable center and positive influence in the locker room as well, two other compelling reasons to keep him around, Mussatto adds.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

  • While some people wonder how Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert will fit together, the Timberwolves’ biggest issues will likely be a lack of knockdown shooters and lead ball-handlers, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes. Minnesota is actually quite deep, despite all the bodies the team swapped to acquire Gobert, and Krawczynski breaks down each position in this in-depth piece.
  • The Jazz are undergoing an extensive rebuild and new head coach Will Hardy will have to earn the confidence of his players to get through it, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News writes. The front office showed its confidence in Hardy by giving him a five-year contract, knowing developmental wins will be more important than actual victories.
  • While Trail Blazers’ star Damian Lillard had already made tens of millions of dollars playing basketball, the generational wealth he’ll accumulate with the two-year, super-max extension he signed this summer was humbling, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.com. “Me and [my wife] talked about it. It’s a big deal. When I talked to [agent Aaron Goodwin] and everybody I talked to about it, it was a big deal. I was like, ‘What am I supposed to do? Post something on Instagram saying something crazy?’ I don’t know what I was supposed to do. It was a big deal.”
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