Derrick Favors is picking up his player option, what does it mean for OKC?

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a ton of decisions to make during the 2022 NBA Offseason. In order to bring in their four top 35 selections in the 2022 NBA Draft, they have to create four roster spots. While there are plenty of options and routes for Sam Presti to take during the offseason, one of the possibilities was Derrick Favors‘s player option. Well, we learned what we already knew on that front.

Last week, the OKC Thunder media met with nearly every player on the Thunder roster (save Vit Krejci who was undergoing a knee procedure, and Mike Muscala who is rehabbing his ankle injury) including the 30-year-old big man Derrick Favors. The veteran has been nothing short of a fantastic leader since arriving in Oklahoma City from Utah on draft night. While his play on the court has been subpar, he has done a great job mentoring the youngsters on this roster.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Derrick Favors is set to pick up his player option for the 2022-23 NBA Season, staying in OKC for now

Derrick Favors is set to pick up his nearly 10.2 million dollar player option for the 2022-23 NBA season, saying he wants to be here, mentioning he had multiple conversations with Sam Presti and Mark Daigneault about the future of the team that includes his future with the organization.

One of the biggest compliments Favors paid to Oklahoma City was sharing a sentiment held by every player on the roster saying the team brought back the “joy” for him when playing the sport of basketball and being around a team.

Derrick Favors played in 39-games, averaging five points, four rebounds, and nearly an assist per contest while shooting 51-percent from the floor and 12-percent from deep. The 2010-11 NBA All-Rookie team member made 18-starts and averaged 16-minutes per game.