Rodney Hood is one of the most productive players in his draft class

Cleveland Cavaliers restricted free agent Rodney Hood had been one of the most productive players in the 2014 NBA Draft class.

Rodney Hood, a restricted free agent for the Cleveland Cavaliers, was having the best season of his career before being traded to the Land and, despite a surprising Rookie of the Year campaign by Donovan Mitchell, looked like the breakout star everyone predicted he would be.

It would seem like, after a tumultuous postseason with an often chaotic team, recency bias has made many — fans, media and front office executives — forget what the scoring-minded 6-foot-8 swingman has to offer.

I’m here to bring you to The Penseive.

Taken with the 23rd pick in the 2014 NBA Draft out of Duke University — behind players like Nik Stauskus, Mitch McGary, James Young and Bruno Caboclo — Hood came into the league profiled as a great shooter but with questions about his defensive intensity.

Fast-forward four years and that profile still rings true. King James Gospel will take an in-depth look at how that profile has allowed him to produce.

First we’ll look at where Hood ranks among his draft class (2014). Afterwards, we’ll look at what his market value should be according to those numbers.

Hood’s ranks among his draft class

12th in career games played (248)

7th in career minutes played (6,814)

7th in career points scored (3,212)

18th in career rebounds (751)

10th in career assists (487)

28th in career field goal percentage (41.9)

9th in career three-point percentage (36.9)

6th in career free-throw percentage (82.8)

12th in career minutes per game (27.5)

10th in career points per game (13.0)

T-19th in career rebounds per game (3.0)

T-14th in career assists per game (2.0)

T-4th in career win shares (13.4)

11th in career win shares per 48 minutes (.095)

15th in career box plus-minus (-0.6)

Just from a quick glance, it’s clear that Hood has been one of the top players in his draft class.

He’s been one of the most available players, one of the best scorers, one of the best facilitators and one of the best three-point shooters. He’s contributed to more wins than a boatload of his classmates

With where he ranks in these 15 categories, he should have actually been a lottery pick; he’s undoubtedly exceeded expectations.

Average rank in the 2014 NBA Draft: 12th

Career totals (average rank): 11th

Career shooting splits (average rank): 14th

Career averages (average rank): 14th

Career advanced stats (average rank): 10th

Actual pick in the 2014 NBA Draft: 23rd

That said, the players that have outperformed him aren’t surprising. The ones who didn’t are though.

Notable players who consistently ranked above him: Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Zach Lavine, Elfrid Payton, Andrew Wiggins, Clint Capela and Julius Randle.

Notable players who didn’t: Jabari Parker and Marcus Smart.

Players that are close comparisons: Gary Harris and Jordan Clarkson.

Leverage for Hood?

Only Embiid (rookie scale contract), Payton (one-year, minimum deal) and Randle (two years, $18 million) are on deals that pay them below $12 million.

Barring an unforeseen injury, Embiid will be getting a massive contract in the near future; he’s the most dominant player in his draft class (yes, Jokic fans, he is).

Payton, a pure point guard who has an ineffective jumper, is being penalized for being a point guard in the wrong era. Though shooting is always going to important in a game of points, Payton’s wonky J is primarily what’s cost him money.

Hood has the ninth-highest three-point percentage of the 60 players in his draft class.

After a rookie season that ended when it began as he broke his leg in his debut, Randle struggled to start his career, looking nothing like the man-child that dominated at the University of Kentucky.

However, changing his diet and giving him free rein to just go out and play has transformed his productivity; he’s athletic and a double-double waiting to happen who averaged 16.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game last season.

He got the most money that the New Orleans Pelicans could offer.

Clarkson ($12.5 million), Smart ($13 million), Parker ($20 million) and Harris ($21 million) haven’t been more productive in their careers but are making the type of money Hood should be making.

Clarkson and Harris, scoring-minded guards with playmaking ability, have had similar impacts as scorers though Harris has been far more efficient (46.9 percent from the field, 37.1 percent from three and 80.1 percent from the free-throw line).

Harris, like Smart, has also been a better defender over the course of his career (Smart’s shooting splits of 39.0 percent from the field, 29.6 percent from three and 75.6 percent from the free-throw line don’t nearly compare to Hood or Harris’ though).

Parker has been a more productive as a scorer (15.3 points per game) and rebounder (5.5 rebounds per game) when he plays but he hasn’t been a good defender. Nor has he been able to stay healthy, having torn his ACL twice in his short career.

Furthermore, he just came off of a season where he was more efficient than Hood but it’s hard to say he was more dominant.

That said, while Harris’ four-year, $84 million would be overpriced for Hood, a long-term deal that starts at $13 million or a short-term deal at a higher price is reasonable.

There’s a considerable gap between $13 million and $21 million but meeting halfway ($17 million) would be more reasonable than the alternative of low-balling him or signing him to a max contract.

Can you trust him in playoff pressure?

There are now questions about his ability to handle playoff pressure after early struggles in the 2018 postseason but Hood’s facing of the Golden State Warriors early in his first playoff run and the new championship-or-bust pressure he found in Cleveland are understandable factors to those underwhelming performances.

It’s not ideal but it does seem like he got over the hump in the 2018 NBA Finals. In any case, with two postseason runs under his belt, a memorable game in a championship game and the pressure in Cleveland has been significantly lessened, it’s unlikely he’s going to have those same confidence issues again.

*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com