The J-Notes
Fansided

Evaluating the “tradability” of each Utah Jazz player

By Jared Woodcox

MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 7: Derrick Favors #15 of the Utah Jazz makes his entrance before the game against the Miami Heat on January 7, 2017 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Oscar Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 7: Derrick Favors #15 of the Utah Jazz makes his entrance before the game against the Miami Heat on January 7, 2017 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Oscar Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
13 of 16
Next
MIAMI, FL – JANUARY 7: Rodney Hood #5 of the Utah Jazz dribbles the ball during the game against the Miami Heat on January 7, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – JANUARY 7: Rodney Hood #5 of the Utah Jazz dribbles the ball during the game against the Miami Heat on January 7, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Rodney Hood

I may be in the minority on Rodney Hood and quite frankly I’m OK with that. My opinion? He’s one of Utah’s most valuable trade pieces given that, despite some bad and frustrating traits, there’s a lot to like about him and he has a lot of potential. However, since I don’t think that he’s an absolutely necessary part of this team and since he has fallen into shooting slumps and poor decisions time and time again, he’d be my top option to trade if Utah’s able to get any sort of promising value in return.

Hood will be a restricted free agent at the end of this year, which means that if a team trades for him, they’ll have the ability to keep him if they want to. Meanwhile, if the Jazz keep him, they may find him commanding a price well above what he’s truly worth. I’d hate to see Utah end up letting him walk when they could have traded him for something at the deadline and, even worse, I’d absolutely hate to see them overpay him creating an Alec Burks contract 2.0 situation.

As I mentioned, there’s a lot to like about Hood. He’s putting up career-highs in points per game (16.8) and three-point percentage (39.2 percent) and has shown growth in a number of other areas. However, considering his history with injuries, inconsistency and unreliability, I think the very promise that he’s shown is the perfect reason to trade him. The Jazz may be able to get more in return for Hood than for about anyone else on the roster.

Related Story: Utah Jazz: Is Rodney Hood expendable after all?

And especially when considering how he’s looked overall of late with several of his trademark “disappearing act” games, I worry that he’s on the cusp of reverting back to the Hood of old, so Utah may be wise to move him while his value still appears quite high.

Hood brings some nice things to the table, but especially now that Utah has Donovan Mitchell, that Hood may require quite the pay raise this summer and that his poor decision making and streaky shooting have often cancelled out his positive traits, I wouldn’t mind one bit if Utah shipped him out.

Of course, there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to find a good deal for him, which in that case they shouldn’t move him out of desperation. Not only that, but as I mentioned, I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority on Hood and it’s more than likely that the team will look to keep him and bring him back in restricted free agency.

Even so, hopefully the Jazz won’t be too closed off about potentially parting ways with a guy who might be able to bring in a highly beneficial return.

Verdict: Tradable, solid value, but Jazz may not want to move him