Utah Jazz: Do You Believe The Rodney Hood Hype?

By DJoumbarey A. Moreau | Jul 7, 2015

April 5, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood (5, left) dribbles the basketball against Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore (23) during the fourth quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Jazz defeated the Kings 101-95. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

When general managers do their due diligence and take the extra step when it comes to assembling their roster it really shows. Utah’s general manager Dennis Lindsey should have or will soon win the NBA’s Executive of the Year because of the way that he’s organized the Utah Jazz roster.

Lindsey’s done a terrific job turing the organization back into a winning franchise and it’s because of the talent that he’s acquired in Salt Lake City. Another one of Lindsey’s picks has started to blossom, Rodney Hood. The young man is going to become a go-to player in the league, the question is do you believe that his success is a fluke or that the hype surrounding him is actually real?

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Hood was selected No. 23 in the 2014 NBA Draft by Utah. Hood had a decent rookie year being hampered by nagging injuries but still managed to impress in his limited time averaging 8.7 points per game and many people didn’t really get to see the true extent of his game. Hood played sparingly but made the most of his minutes scoring 8.7 points per game in 21.3 minutes.

His shooting numbers were also decent for a rookie, posting 41 percent on field goals while shooting 36 percent from the three-point line.

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However, Hood couldn’t even think about enjoying the festivities of All-Star weekend or being nominated to the All-Rookie NBA team because the league snubbed him from such honors.

***On another note, the league also snubbed a lot of other Utah Jazz professionals out of postseason awards including Quin Snyder, Dennis Lindsey, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert. Like the Atlanta Hawks say #TakeTheWholeTeam***

The Summer League is the proving ground for all young players in the league and Hood’s game has gotten much better from his rookie season. We knew that Hood was good off of the dribble, but he’s added in a very consistent jump shot to go with his handles. Utah’s got a gem that will eventually pick up some Sixth Man of the Year award votes before his career is over.

If the 23 points and 10 rebounds weren’t impressive enough in his second Summer League appearance, than take into account that Hood scored 15 fourth-quarter points and helped facilitate the offense in the win vs. Boston. The man is an instant offense kind of player and those are the types (Manu Ginobili, Jamal Crawford, Louis Williams) who normally win the Sixth Man of the Year.

***Look at that jumper! Hood’s giving Marcus Smart the business and making it look too simple. Sheesh! Don’t do it to em’ Rodney! Jordan Mickey got some of the work too.***

Look for all of the numbers from Hood’s rookie season to increase.

For some reason it doesn’t feel like the dreaded and oh-so-fictitious sophomore slump isn’t going to become a problem for Hood. This offseason he was putting in the work at the IMG Academy going against other NBA level competition and thriving there too.

It wasn’t a surprise that his Summer League debut was a monster double-double. It’ll be a surprise if he doesn’t win the MVP of the entire league. As Maurice Harkless found out when playing against Hood, this season he’s not cracking any jokes. He’s gotten much better and has turned himself into a solid NBA player.

Because of Hood’s maturation as a player, his individual success as a player is going to help Utah reap a lot of benefits.

One of those benefits might be shoring up the bench.

If Utah manages to sneak into the playoffs this season it’s because Hood’s playing at the level that many expect him to reach. A lot of their success is going to rest on his shoulders because he’s utilized as a primary facilitator in anytime he’s on the floor. Watching Hood play in his second consecutive and safely to say his last Summer League has incredible.

We’ve got to see how much better of a shooter he is and how well he moves working off of the dribble. Each of those sentences couldn’t have been said about his game.

You might need to believe the hype around Rodney Hood and that’s fine if you don’t. Either way it won’t stop him from torching your favorite teams.

Everyone in Utah’s organization is waiting for the day people start to utter the words “Rodney Hood was such a steal for Utah at No. 23.” like they do for every good player who got selected way too late.

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