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Despite the Utah Jazz making great strides over the last couple of seasons, Gordon Hayward signed with the Boston Celtics in free agency. With the Jazz re-signing Joe Ingles and signing Thabo Sefolosha, they are looking at Rodney Hood to fill Hayward's offensive role.
As Hayward eventually averaged 20 points per game, Hood — like most young prospects — has struggled with consistency through three seasons. With the former Duke product set to enter restricted free agency following the 2017-18 NBA season, he stayed in Utah for most of the offseason to work on his game according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune:
That meant staying in Salt Lake City for most of this summer instead of his usual offseason practice of going home. That allowed Hood to work tirelessly on his game with Jazz assistant Johnnie Bryant.
Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey was extremely straightforward with Hood during the team's exit meeting:
“There were a lot of challenges we gave Rodney,” Lindsey said. “What he needs to be doing, his commitment level to his development. And he’s responded this summer. He’s going to be given a prominent role, and his development will be significant to us.”
Through three seasons, Hood has shown flashes of becoming a strong scorer in the league. As the fourth-year wing is expected to average more than his career 10.7 field goal attempts, the hope is he can be consistent and efficient as well.
Heading into the new season, it will be interesting to see how the Jazz fare without Hayward. As numerous teams in the Western Conference have improved during the offseason, Utah has stiff competition in the Northwest division with the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Oklahoma City Thunder.
