The Cleveland Cavaliers made the trade deadline deal to acquire Rodney Hood from the Utah Jazz in hopes that his youth and shooting would help the Cavs in the playoffs. Unfortunately, Hood is just one of the few Cavaliers who still haven’t been able to figure out their fit with their new team. While many thought he could play through his struggles, but he’s actually been very ineffective when he’s been on the court.
In these 2018 playoffs, Hood is averaging just 4.6 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists on 39.6 percent shooting from the field and 13.3 percent from beyond the arc. So far in this Raptors series, however, Hood has been especially bad, scoring just two points on 1-9 shooting and 0-3 from beyond the arc in just under 39 minutes of action across three games.
Head coach Tyronn Lue has seen Hood’s struggles, and decided to speak to him about it and what the Cavs expect from him as they try to advance to their fourth consecutive Eastern Conference Finals.
Tyronn Lue says he had good talk with struggling Rodney Hood. “He can be better. He knows that.”#Cavs#NBA pic.twitter.com/Dy2NZB3ZMq
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) May 7, 2018
Lue talked to Rodney Hood yesterday. Said he understands what they're expecting from him. It's been tough getting spotty minutes. On Jordan Clarkson, he's liked that he's gotten steals and deflections this series. #Cavs
— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) May 7, 2018
Hood has seen at least 10 minutes off the bench over the last three games, but as noted above, hasn’t been able to get anything going. If he does happen to figure it out as the Cavs progress further along in the playoffs, it’ll make for an incredible boost to a Cavs’ bench that has desperate needed more scoring help.
