Loser: Utah Jazz
Jae Crowder is a better return than people realize. He’s still only 27 years old, is under contract for two more seasons at an extremely team-friendly price, and if he returns to Boston Celtics Jae Crowder, he’s a much better value than whatever it’ll take a team to sign Rodney Hood this summer.
However, this still feels like an incredibly underwhelming return for a 25-year-old wing still tapping into his two-way potential. Just a few months ago, most people were wondering how much it’d take for the Utah Jazz to lock up Rodney Hood with a contract extension. Something in the Gary Harris range (four years, $84 million) actually didn’t seem farfetched.
Now, thanks to the rise of Donovan Mitchell, a few injuries and Utah’s apparent disinterest in re-signing Hood this summer, his value was not even worth a first round pick. If Crowder continues to struggle as he has this season, the Jazz essentially just gave up their third-best player for nothing.
In some ways, it's too bad how things had to end up with Hood. Jazz were so thrilled about where they got him in the draft, so excited about his foundational potential. Things just really went sideways this year. His health played a bigger role than some might realize.
— Ben Dowsett (@Ben_Dowsett) February 8, 2018
To be fair, you could argue that Crowder should be much better in Quin Snyder’s defense. He should be reinvigorated in Utah’s system and will hopefully look more like Boston Crowder (13.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game on .463/.398/.811 shooting splits last year) than Cleveland Crowder (8.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game on .418/.328/.848 splits).
You could also make the case that the Jazz — a team that wants to rebuild around Mitchell and Rudy Gobert while still remaining competitive — would prefer Crowder and his team-friendly contract compared to a first round pick that yields a raw, underdeveloped rookie.
Have a few mentions why didn't Jazz get a 1st round pick instead of Crowder. 1st round pick would have been 24 to 30 ish. For next two years I am certain Jae Crowder is better than that pick
— David Locke (@DLocke09) February 8, 2018
But that’s a tad reductionist, and it ignores the upside Utah completely gave up on by swapping for an older wing who has looked completely out of sorts this season. Even if Crowder returns to Celtics form, Hood’s potential is still higher, and depending on what he signs for this summer, this deal could look even worse down the road.
The Jazz have carried on through quite a few injuries, so maybe they won’t miss Hood’s bench scoring too much. But as of right now, this is a fairly low return for a budding two-way wing who had the franchise so excited about his future only a year ago.