Georgia Tech #ProJackets Basketball Report – Men’s Basketball — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

THE FLATS – The NBA and the players association having agreed to a start date of Dec. 22 for the 2020-21 season, and the NBA draft was held Thursday night with no trades occurring involving former Yellow jackets … Derrick Favors remains a free agent while his 2019-20 team in New Orleans has hired a new coach in Stan Van Gundy, Thaddeus Young and Josh Okogie have completed off-season workouts with the Bulls and Timberwolves, respectively.

This week’s #ProJackets Report compiles more of the latest news, stories and social media posts on former Jackets and their activities of the past week.

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FAVORS RATED HIGHER THAN MID-LEVEL EXCEPTION

According to The Athletic’s John Hollinger, Derrick Favors is listed among Tier 2 free agent centers – more valuable than a mid-level exception, but less than a max contract – along with Hassan Whiteside, Christian Wood, Andre Drummond and Jakob Puetl.

“Favors remains a quietly productive player who would either be one of the best backup centers in the league or a good stopgap starter. That may or may not be in New Orleans, depending on the Pelicans’ other plans, but they can re-sign him without dipping into exception money and have plenty of room below the tax line to fit him in.”

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Christian Clark writes in NOLA.com: “In Wednesday’s draft, Griffin, New Orleans’ lead basketball executive, green-lit the selection of Kira Lewis Jr. at 13th overall and then traded away his team’s other three picks for future assets … the Pelicans could bring back Favors, who will be entering his 11th season. There is nothing sexy about his game, but he is as low-maintenance of a player as they come. He was valuable last season, even while he dealt with injuries and the death of his mother. Favors would be open to playing for Van Gundy, sources have said. However, multiple teams will be interested in him.”

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OKOGIE PART OF THE SOLUTION IN MINNESOTA

Jack Borman in Canis Hoopus writes: “From the moment he came into the league in 2018, Josh Okogie has been a constant in Minnesota as an energizing presence on the court and as a leader, both in the locker room and in the greater Minneapolis community. There’s a reason that Okogie, who was drafted by the Thibodeau regime – a crew that Wolves President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas has not been shy about criticizing – is the only player outside of Karl-Anthony Towns to survive the roster metamorphosis that has played out since the Rosas was hired on May 1, 2019.”

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