Rodney Hood is undeniably having the weirdest season of his young career. From being one of the top scorers for the Utah Jazz, the former Duke Blue Devil has found himself in a reduced role with the Cleveland Cavaliers that has only dwindled as the postseason matured.
In Salt Lake City, Hood was averaging 16.8 points per game on 38 percent shooting from the field. But in Northeast Ohio, his numbers came down to 10.8 markers nightly with almost every other stat seeing a decrease. In the postseason, Hood has been atrocious with 5.1 points on 14 percent accuracy from downtown in close to half of his regular season playing time.
In an article by Michael Pina of Vice Sports, the restricted free agent-to-be opens up on his market value amid the slump.
In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Hood got his chance and he showed up by scoring 15 points for the Cavs. But it will be hard to convince teams, especially those working on a complicated cap situation, that he is worth paying big bucks for an extended amount of time.
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A return to Cleveland isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but the chances are very slim. Playing alongside LeBron James, Hood’s game suffered as he failed to find his niche in a system that demanded differently from him compared to Utah’s ways where he managed to thrive for three years and change.
Hood is only 25 years old with a skillset that holds much value in today’s game. But he might need to weather his expectations in the offseason and opt for a short-term deal as an audition for a megabuck contract in the future.
Arlos Sara graduated with a degree Psychology. He is an NBA writer and editor for ClutchPoints and Cavs Nation. Back in the day, while other kids were consumed by their toys and comic books, young Arlos was already thumbing through the pages of sports magazines.
