Cleveland Cavaliers: Rodney Hood, Alec Burks trade rumors fit script
By Dan Gilinsky
Cleveland Cavaliers guards Rodney Hood and Alec Burks have very attractive expiring contracts for other NBA teams to target, and it’s reportedly unlikely that they will still be in Cleveland after this season’s February 7th NBA trade deadline.
As we’ve noted countless times, the Cleveland Cavaliers are not going to be winning many games the rest of this season. They are now in “asset-collection mode,” as our own Corey Casey put it in a recent article, and right as Casey suggested could be the case in the coming months, Rodney Hood and Alec Burks have a “decent chance” of being traded before the February 7th NBA trade deadline, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. That is right on cue for the way this season has been, in regards to the number of trades of veteran pieces.
Kyle Korver was reportedly traded to the Utah Jazz a few weeks back, and Cleveland just traded George Hill to the Milwaukee Bucks last week. As Windhorst touched on in his recent piece, Cleveland is also “trying their best to find someone to take JR Smith.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers have gotten good play out of Burks in his short time in Cleveland after being the player the Jazz sent over in the Korver trade (which featured two future second-round draft picks as well), but his expiring contract (per Spotrac) is so attractive to contending teams.
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It’s not as if Burks isn’t a good player, but considering he probably doesn’t fit part of Cleveland’s future, the Cavs should deal him for likely a veteran salary-dump contract and future draft picks.
Burks’ career statistics include averages of 9.7 points on 52.5 percent true shooting, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 20.9 minutes per game (per Basketball Reference). He could provide a contending team with quality secondary playmaking, both in shot-creation for himself and others.
Hood is in a similar situation, with his one-year qualifying offer also expiring after the season (again, per Spotrac). This season, he’s averaging 12.4 points on 53.4 percent true shooting, 2.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 28.2 minutes per game. He can provide a contender with potentially a sixth man-type scoring punch both off the catch and off the bounce, or as a spot starter.
According to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops, both have a few concrete suitors already.
"“I’ve heard Burks is already drawing interest, with the Boston Celtics and injury-plagued Denver Nuggets among the teams mentioned. The Philadelphia 76ers are said to be among those with an interest in Hood.”"
The Cavs moving Burks and Hood essentially fits the script of this 2018-19 season. Cleveland is going to keep dealing away veteran players that probably don’t fit the long-term timeline.
I would’ve thought Hood could have been around for the long haul, but given the recent reports, that’s probably unlikely, and as many suggested as soon as the Burks trade happened, him and the Cavs were probably not destined for a long time together.
We’ll keep looking at Twitter updates from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Windhorst in the coming weeks and months, given that Hood can be traded December 15th due to him signing a contract this past summer, and if there’s a proposed trade to a contender, he’d probably waive his “implicit no-trade clause,” (which was highlighted by HoopsRumors’ Luke Adams). In addition, according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, since “the Cavs traded for Burks before Dec. 6, they are allowed to swap him immediately or can aggregate his salary with others in about two months – creating an opportunity for a bigger trade package.”
Needless to say, the Cavs and general manager Koby Altman are just getting started in trade season.