Utah Jazz alumni: Rodney Hood speaks out on tough situation in Cleveland

Former Utah Jazz guard/forward Rodney Hood has struggled thus far in Cleveland, but he may still get a chance to prove himself in the NBA Finals.

When Rodney Hood was traded from the Utah Jazz to the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was averaging 16.8 points per contest while draining nearly 39 percent of his three-point attempts. Those were the kind of figures that Cleveland brass and fans alike hoped Hood would be able to contribute, especially playing off the ball alongside LeBron James.

Unfortunately, such has been far from the case during his tenure in Cleveland thus far. He had some bright moments initially during the regular season following the trade, but overall his play was disappointing. He put up just 10.8 points per game, his lowest output since his rookie season, and shot just 35.2 percent from deep, the worst mark of his career.

Things have gotten even worse for Rodney in the playoffs. One game into the first-round series against the Indiana Pacers, Hood lost his starting spot to veteran J.R. Smith. His minutes have dropped to just 14.5 per contest and he’s appeared in just 14 of the Cavs’ 18 playoff games, logging seven minutes or less in three of those.

He once again found himself only entering the game in the waning seconds of garbage time in Cleveland’s near victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Jazz fans often groaned over Hood’s decision making, but you could argue that he would have been a better option late in the game than Smith. At least Hood likely would have known what the score was.

The fact of the matter, though, is that Hood has dropped out of the rotation and found himself in an absolutely foreign spot with the Cavaliers. On a couple of occasions he lost his starting role in Utah, but he always remained an important figure in the Jazz offense every season that he was there. Finding himself now warming the bench most of the time while his team plays on the biggest stage can’t be easy.

And Hood made as much clear in a recent conversation with Marc Spears of The Undefeated–

"“I was playing at such a high clip when I got traded,” Hood said. “And then, this is my first time having DNPs in life. The first time shooting two times or five times in a game. Having to adjust is the toughest part. It’s a part of my growth. I’m not going to always be in this state.“It’s something I can look back on and think, ‘I’ve been through something worse than this. I’ve been through a tough time before.’ It can help me in future endeavors.”"

Despite how difficult the situation has undoubtedly been, it’s good to see that Rodney is keeping a positive outlook as best as he can. While there’s plenty of explanations for his struggles, one is certainly the fact that he joined a Cavs team midseason after playing with the Jazz his entire career. That’s a hard spot to be in for any player and Hood’s inability to adjust to a new team is far from surprising.

His new head coach, Tyronn Lue, recognized as much as well–

"“Coming from a situation in Utah he was accustomed to, and then coming to a situation after midseason to a team that had championship aspirations, he didn’t really get a chance to have a full year and a full training camp,” Lue said. “But he’s been great. He did great throughout the course of the regular season, and the playoffs have been just a little different for him.“So we have confidence in him. He has to have more confidence in himself. And he’s going to be a big part of what we’re trying to do. So he’s not ‘X’d’ out right now.”“Rodney has been working hard. He had opportunities in the first round. He’s been working to play, and he’s going to get opportunities. Just because he didn’t play [Thursday] night or that much in the Boston series, I’ve always talked to him about being ready, staying ready, because he is a great talent and we’re going to need him. He’s going to get a chance and an opportunity.”"

Although Hood’s confidence has likely taken a bit of a step backwards, it’s great to hear that his coach and presumably his teammates haven’t lost faith in him. Since joining the NBA, Hood has always been streaky, but when he gets in a groove, he can be among the deadliest of three-point shooters.

For Cleveland to have even a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating the Warriors, they’ll likely need Hood to be prepared for the moment and come up big at some point when his name is called upon. Don’t forget that this is the guy that drained 8-of-9 threes against the Los Angeles Lakers a few years ago, earning high respect and praise from Laker legend Kobe Bryant.

Hood would likely do well to remember those days and seek to recapture that mojo, which is something he has apparently attempted to do. In his conversation with Stein, Hood even admitted to watching highlights of his time with the Jazz and reminding himself that several of those took place as recently as earlier this season–

"“At times when I may lose a little bit of confidence because of playing time or whatever, I look back to my Utah highlights a lot on YouTube just to remind myself that that was this [season] when I did those things.”"

His incredible season-high showing of 31 points against the Orlando Magic back in November and his game-saving 29-point performance against the San Antonio Spurs in Donovan Mitchell‘s absence back in December are a couple of moments from the 2017-18 season that really stand out to me as ones where Hood was electric. If he can rediscover that version of himself, he can absolutely be a helpful piece for this Cavs team.

Of course, suiting up for under-the-radar Utah is significantly different than playing on the highest of stages for an NBA Finals team captained by the greatest player of our generation in LeBron James. While I’m nearly certain that, based on James’ comments on others of his teammates, he still has faith in Hood, it’s completely understandable that Rodney would feel somewhat uneasy about playing alongside The King.

He expressed that sentiment as well–

"“This is something different. It has been tough,” Hood said. “The basketball stuff has been the easiest part. The stuff that comes out of it, you lose a game and everyone talks about it on TV the next day. They may say some things that you may not agree with. If you win a game, you’re supposed to. Those kind of things are something I kind of got on a much smaller scale and dealt with at Duke.“You lose a game and you feel like the world is coming down. You win, it’s like, you’re supposed to win. It’s still a struggle to me to adapt to that.”"

Hood also comes across as a relatively quiet, personal guy, so dealing with the limelight of a championship contending team and playing alongside LeBron would certainly be a change of pace. However, regardless of the outcome of the Finals, this will be an excellent learning process for him. If Rodney wants to excel at the highest level, he’ll have to get used to high-pressure situations playing alongside the game’s greats.

Next: Utah Jazz: Antonio Lang promoted within Jazz coaching staff

Although I feel very strongly that the Jazz made the right decision in dealing Hood, I certainly hope for the best for him. His confidence has appeared severely damaged, but some of the comments he made recently give me optimism that he’ll indeed be able to bounce back mentally and physically. As the NBA Finals continue on Sunday, hopefully we’ll get to see Rodney Hood get an opportunity and thrive.

After all the time and effort he gave to the Jazz, it’s the least that can be hoped for him. His Cavaliers team will tip-off against the Golden State Warriors for Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday at 6:00 PM MT.