Instant Reaction: Rodney Hood signs one-year qualifying offer to stay with Cavs

Rodney Hood has signed his qualifying offer to remain with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, swingman Rodney Hood is returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers after signing his qualifying offer (one-year, $3.4 million).

With the news that Hood signed his qualifying offer, it’s clear that he couldn’t get the Cleveland Cavaliers to offer what he felt was a fair annual salary.

On Saturday, it was reported that he was seeking around $9 million per year, which should be a bargain price for a player that was on pace to earn a lot more prior to being dealt to the Cavs at the trade deadline.

It’s also apparent that Hood, a 6-foot-8 wing who will be 26-years-old at the start of the 2018-2019 season, is hoping to have the breakout year he was expected to have last year.

Hood, a four-year NBA veteran, averaged 14.7 points per game (on 42.9 percent shooting from the field, 38.1 percent shooting from three and 86.0 percent shooting from the charity stripe) last season. However, he averaged just 10.8 points per game for the Cavs (21 games) after averaging 16.8 points per game for the Utah Jazz (39 games) prior to his trade.

His numbers only got worse in the playoffs, as he averaged 4.6 points (on 39.6 percent shooting from the field, 13.3 percent shooting from three and 75.0 percent shooting from the charity stripe), 1.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.2 blocks per game through the first two rounds.

He was then benched through the Eastern Conference Finals and the first two games of the 2018 NBA Finals before averaging 12.5 points (on 44.0 percent shooting from the field, 25.0 percent shooting from three and 66.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line), 7.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block per game in the last two games of the NBA Finals.

Hood will obviously want his numbers to look more robust than they did in Cleveland.

If his scoring average jumps near the numbers he had his last season in Utah, he continues making smart decisions as a playmaker and he shows the effort on defense and the boards that he did in the Finals, that will be the case.

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Luckily, LeBron James’ departure leaves a major playmaking void on the wing; one that Hood will get a chance to help fill. With the Cavs still trying to fill the void left when Kyrie Irving requested a trade last summer, Hood also gets a chance to help replace that remaining void as well.

His restricted free agency may have lasted longer than people expected but was as unfortunate for Hood as many people expected after a turbulent postseason.

Nothing was confirmed officially but it seemed like Hood and the Cleveland Cavaliers had come close to reaching an agreement at various times this offseason.

Now the lengthy saga is over and Cavs fans will see if they see the best of Hood in what’s going to be the most important season of his career.

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