Barely 24 hours after we were discussing on this site whether or not Derrick Favors should be used as trade bait, Avery Johnson spoke to reporters yesterday and said it was possible that the rookie PF could be a starter as the season starts:
“The main thing is he’s so bright,” Johnson said. “He’s a bright kid. He retains a lot of information, he’s getting stronger and stronger every day. We’re going to take it step by step and when we need to take speed up, we’ll speed up, and when we need to slow down, we’ll slow down. I was joking with him the other day. I said I heard where you said ‘We’re going to bring you along slowly and we’re going to bring you off the bench.’ I told him, ‘Who said you’re coming off the bench? Did I tell you that?’”
Let’s not get crazy here. Unless Favors made dramatic leaps and bounds from the summer league, he should be playing against second units, getting comfortable and used to the NBA. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Still, like the motivational techniques from Avery here.
