While Rodney Hood saw his value slip over the course of the 2017/18 season, he remains a priority for the Cavaliers, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, who hears from a source that Cleveland intends to keep the RFA guard. The Bulls view Hood as a potential Plan B if they lose Zach LaVine, but the Cavs plan on matching an offer sheet from Chicago or any other team, per Deveney.
According to Deveney’s source, both the Cavaliers and Hood are braced for the possibility of the four-year veteran accepting his qualifying offer if he doesn’t find a better deal. Playing out the one-year, $3.47MM contract would allow Hood to rebuild his value in advance of unrestricted free agency in 2019.
Here are a few more notes from around the Central division:
- The Pistons will be an over-the-cap team this summer, and may not be able to spend their full mid-level exception due to their proximity to the tax line. As such, senior advisor Ed Stefanski says he expects Detroit to be in “the background” of free agency, per Kurt Mensching of The Detroit News. “I like where our team is right now,” Stefanski said. “We have more than enough to compete.”
- While the Pistons may not aggressively pursue outside free agents, they’d like to bring back a couple of their own. Mensching notes in his article that Detroit has interest in re-signing Anthony Tolliver if the price is right, while a team source tells ESPN’s Ian Begley (Twitter link) that the Pistons have “significant interest” in retaining James Ennis.
- Victor Oladipo is bullish on the Pacers‘ outlook and sounds like he’d be willing to get involved in recruiting free agents to Indiana, writes Clifton Brown of The Indianapolis Star. However, Oladipo doesn’t expect to be involved in the front office’s decision-making process. “If they ask me, I guess I’ll give them my input,” Oladipo said with a smile. “But for the most part, I just focus on getting better.”
Hood is definitely a keeper, if any Cav chose to get his own offense it was Hood once he got minutes after Game 2. Playing with Lebron intimidated everyone on that roster because guys were afraid to make a mistake and have Lebron yell at them.
Hood stepped up though, the Cavs definitely need to keep him and build with him and Sexton if Lebron leaves.
It’s either Hood or Osman to replace LeBron.
Tyreke Evans or even Aaron Gordon could slide in if LeBron leaves. Big shoes to fill.
Lebron controlled too much of the offense so we never got to see what his supporting cast could do.
That’s what Great Players do. That’s why they are great. They know what to do under pressure.
Hood a plan B for the Bulls if Lavine isn’t re signed? Nope, they could sign both Hood and Lavine.
PG Dunn/Payne
SG Lavine/Kilpatrick/Hutchinson
SF Hood/Hutchinson/Valentine
PF Markkanen/Portis
C Carter/Feliciano/Lopez
That’s a helluva young core moving forward. But back to my original point, Hood is a natural 3 and Lavine is a natural 2, they have the cap space, no reason for it to be an either/or.
WAY too early to tell what’s going on. This summer has the potential to be one of the biggest FA summers in a long time. All it takes is for one domino to fall and the rest will start to tumble down around us. Where they’ll all land is just speculation.
How Long will it Lebron leave the league hanging in the wind?
Man the future is really bleak for Cleveland if they have to build around Sexton & Hood, looking rough for the next few years, right?