With all of the high-profile stars entering NBA free agency this summer, you can tend to overlook the solid players who will come cheaper and can still make a decent impact on whichever team they sign with. One of those players is Rodney Hood.
Hood is no world beater, but he is a solid bench scorer and is coming off of a 2018-19 campaign in which he averaged 11.2 points and 2.2 rebounds over 72 games between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers.
If you're asking Hood to start, you are probably going to have some problems, but if he is coming off of the pine, he is a fine asset.
So, here are three ideal landing spots for Rodney Hood this summer.
3. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers certainly need some more scoring alongside of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Kyle Kuzma, and most of all, they need some perimeter shooting.
Hood would bring both of those things to the table.
He is not a lights-out three-point shooter, but he owns a solid career clip of 36.7 percent from downtown, and for a Lakers squad that is in desperate need of someone who can spread the floor, Hood would fit pretty well.
The 26-year-old would also provide Los Angeles with a nice sixth man type of option off the bench who has the ability to drop 20 or more points on any given night.
2. Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers will probably lose at least one of Jimmy Butler or Tobias Harris this summer, meaning they are going to need some offense. Heck, they would still need offense even if Butler and Harris stayed.
Hood would be a very nice fit in Philadelphia and would allow the Sixers to have a rather trustworthy player off the bench rather than have to give minutes to journeymen like Mike Scott and James Ennis.
It's no secret that the 76ers need perimeter shooting, and Hood can step right in and provide them with a guy who Ben Simmons can kick the ball out to for open looks. Not only that, but if Joel Embiid draws double teams, Hood is the perfect player to swing the ball to.
He's not exactly a star, but he is a solid piece who would help solidify what was a terrible bench this season.
1. Utah Jazz
How about going back to where it all started?
The Jazz traded Hood to the Cavaliers during the 2017-18 campaign for Jae Crowder for the simple fact that they did not want to pay him in free agency last summer, but Hood ended up signing a qualifying offer to return to Cleveland.
Hood's stock has dropped quite a bit, so he is not going to be nearly as expensive as Utah thought last year. Plus, he will be an unrestricted free agent, so the Jazz won't have to worry about matching any potentially crazy offer sheets this time around.
Utah desperately needs some perimeter shooting and really just scoring in general, as Donovan Mitchell can't do it alone.
The Mike Conley pickup was definitely awesome, but the Jazz need more, and Hood would ironically be the perfect fit to provide Quin Snyder's club with some extra scoring punch off the bench.
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