Earlier today, The Plain Dealer reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers are keeping a spot on their roster open for guard Rodney Hood to either enter into his qualifying offer or rework a full contract extension. And according to an earlier report from Yahoo Sports, Hood would like a contract that is short term and fair for him.
Now Rodney Hood is a restricted free agent, meaning the Cavaliers will be able to match any team’s offer for him. Last month, both the Sacramento Kings and the Chicago Bulls expressed interest in the 25-year-old, but seem unwilling to actually extend an offer, as both teams seem fairly certain that he is going to remain on the Cavaliers. Now it is just a matter of time before he decides to either play the next season for the $3.4 million qualifying offer and then be an unrestricted free agent next summer, or try to work out a new deal with the Cavs.
Hood came over last season from the Utah Jazz during the trade deadline. In Utah, he was expected to be one of the team’s main sources for offensive output, right alongside rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell. Over 39 games in Utah, he averaged 16.8 PPG on 42.4% from the floor and 38.9% from 3, as well as 1.7 APG and 2.8 RPG. However, Tyronn Lue utilized Hood in a different way than how he played with the Jazz. This caused his numbers to drop substantially, as for his 21 games played in a Cavaliers uniform, he averaged just 10.8 PPG on 44.2% from the floor to go along with 1.4 APG and 2.6 RPG. On top of that, he went from averaging 27.8 MPG in Utah to 25.3 MPG in Cleveland.
It was clear that Hood was unhappy with his role on the Cavs, and come playoff time, he at one point refused to enter the game when Lue called his name on the bench. However, he was called again in game 3 of the NBA finals against the defending champion Golden State Warriors and played 26 minutes, after playing just 4 minutes total between the first 2 games of the series. Game 3 is what we can call a statement game, as Hood put up 15 points on 63.6% from the floor, as well as 6 rebounds and a block. He then played 27 minutes in the final game of the series, and put up 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals.
So now where does this bring us? The Cavs are attempting to remain playoff contenders despite losing their franchise player, LeBron James. And Hood can help keep playoff hopes alive with his ability to score the basketball. He’s shown the world he can do a bit of everything, from shooting the 3-ball, to driving to the hoop, to knocking down a mid-range off the dribble, to even playing picturesque defense. Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz spoke to an anonymous scout regarding Hood, and he had this to say:
He’ll [Hood] be good in Cleveland because Cleveland’s going to be bad, and they’ll need his scoring. Who else are they going to go to? He’ll get quality minutes on that roster. How could he not? I’m not sure how tough he is, though. He can put up big scoring numbers on a bad team.”
So the right move for the Cavs is to lock up Hood for a short-term extension so that he’s there with the team for the foreseeable future, because they could really use all that he brings to the table.
Feature Image via Flikr/EDrost88
