The J-Notes
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Utah Jazz: Hood-Crowder trade looks like a legit win-win

By Ryan Aston

PORTLAND, OR - FEBRUARY 11: Jae Crowder #99 of the Utah Jazz looks on during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on February 11, 2018 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - FEBRUARY 11: Jae Crowder #99 of the Utah Jazz looks on during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on February 11, 2018 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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After getting dealt for one another, Utah Jazz forward Jae Crowder and Cleveland Cavaliers wing Rodney Hood are off to strong starts in their new digs.

Before the NBA trade deadline, neither Rodney Hood nor Jae Crowder looked long for their respective teams. Despite high hopes for what each would bring to the table this season, they had become square pegs that weren’t always helping their squads win.

Once thought to be the post-Hayward go-to guy for the Utah Jazz, Hood was coming off the bench after losing his starting spot to a rookie. He even claimed to feel isolated from the team. Crowder, meanwhile, spoke about “getting back to having fun” after his debut with Utah. Which seems to infer that there was little fun to be had with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Whatever they thought of their former teams, though, there’s no denying that both players are off to tremendous starts in their new situations.

The Jazz and Cavs have each notched consecutive wins since bringing their new guys on-board. Along the way, Hood and Crowder have looked more like old hands than the products of an 11th-hour deadline deal.

Their numbers are eerily similar following the trade. Both are averaging 14.5 points per game and knocking down 50 percent of their 3-point shots with their new teams. Solid lines for players learning new systems on the fly.

For Crowder, it’s production that signals a return to form after a rough half-year in Cleveland. The Jazz are undoubtedly hoping he can replicate the success of his Boston Celtics tenure and, clearly, he’s rediscovered some of that Beantown mojo.

Said Jazz coach Quin Snyder: “He’s come in and thrown himself into the group. When you’re a smart player who has feel, it’s easy to blend in with a group of guys that play unselfishly, and that’s what he did.”

For his part, Hood was already having a career season. However, he clearly has an extra spring in his step playing next to LeBron James. After just one game beside the best player on the planet, the former Jazzman had managed to find the smile that Crowder lost in Cleveland.

“It’s fun,” he told reporters. “[LeBron] demands the simple things, just to play hard. Other than that, he’ll make the game easy for you if you’re in the right spot. So, it’s fun.”

More from The J-Notes

In sports, it’s usually the best or worst trades that grab the headlines. As a long-suffering Chicago Cubs fan, I can’t help but wonder if my team would’ve won a World Series far earlier than 2016 if they hadn’t dealt Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio.

Never mind the fact that said deal happened before my lifetime, or that the Cubs finally won. Brock for Broglio, man!

The Hood-Crowder trade breaks the mold in that respect. It’s the rare win-win trade in a league where someone almost always ends up holding the short end of the stick. Not just for the Jazz and the Cavs, but for two players in need of fresh starts.

Somehow, everyone has come up Brock.

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