Cleveland Cavaliers: Alec Burks stealing Rodney Hood’s role

The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking for franchise pieces in a rebuilding year. They may have stumbled on one in Alec Burks.

This may be an overreaction. So be it. It’s therapeutic to think positive, even if they are naive thoughts, amidst this forgettable Cleveland Cavaliers season.

Alec Burks is making his case as a franchise cornerstone at shooting guard, and pushing out Rodney Hood in the process. Don’t like it? To quote Ronnie of Jersey Shore, “Come at me bro.”

Sorry. Maybe I’m getting a bit too hyped. Burks’ numbers are modest so far. In three games, he’s averaging 13.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. And yet, he is quickly gaining the respect of coaches, something Hood has yet to do.

Like Hood, Burks was a high pick turned outcast with the Utah Jazz, coming to Cleveland in the recent Kyle Korver trade. Utah selected Burks with the 12th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Fellow Jazz shooting guard and star rookie, Donovan Mitchell, was the 13th pick six years later in 2017, if that means anything. Hood was the 23rd pick in 2014.

Burks and Hood were involved in the final bucket on Monday night. With Hood setting the pick, Burks sliced to the rim for a game-winning jam against Brooklyn. It was exactly how interim head coach Larry Drew designed the play. Burks, who joined the team as maybe their fourth option off the bench, has already elevated himself to last shot-taker. Clearly Drew is confident in his new piece.

Was it just one play, or is there more significance to Hood being chosen as the screener? Maybe Drew was riding the hot hand, something Hood was not. He was just 2-for-8 on the night. Burks was having a good game, so he got the ball.

Or did it mean something more? In his first chance to pick a favorite, Drew decided on Burks to shoot and not Hood. Really, the choice of who to grant the last shot was between those two players. Jordan Clarkson was bricking everything in sight. George Hill still wasn’t 100 percent healthy and rookie Collin Sexton wasn’t even on the floor.

So Hood or Burks are de facto go-to options at guard. In the end, Drew chose Burks over the guy in a year-long audition to be Cleveland’s off-guard of the future.

We wouldn’t be having this conversation if Hood were playing well. He’s averaging 13.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, both below his averages last season in Utah despite playing more minutes than in Salt Lake City. His effective field goal percentage is down and he’s had a negative plus/minus in seven of his last 10 games.

Hood’s workload increased with Drew taking over coaching responsibilities, but his production sputtered. So maybe Cleveland is taking another roll of the dice at the second guard position with the addition — and audition — of Burks. Maybe that game-winner indicates the eight-year veteran is ready to come out of his shell with a scenery change.

Let’s not twist words. There is no beef between Hood and Burks. In fact, the two are actually friends and Hood was pleased to reunite with his former teammate.

Still, there may not be room for two similar shooting guards in Cleveland’s future. Hood is on a one-year “prove it” deal, while Burks will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

While he’s cooled off a bit, Cedi Osman‘s sizable improvement from last year to this — he’s averaging nearly eight more points and three more rebounds per game in triple the minutes — means he is likely to stay. Plus, he’s not a restricted free agent until 2020.

After Kevin Love‘s major extension, Cleveland is strapped for cash. It’s difficult to see the Cavs handing out contracts to two average, youngish wings with comparable playing styles. Cleveland is likely to pick only one.

So right now Burks and Hood are friends as much as they are competitors. Each hopes to be, at best, a jester on the Cavs’ future court next to Sexton and what will likely be a wing player from Duke. The starting role would be quite the prize for two career bench players. Maybe Monday’s game-winner from Burks was the moment he began to steal it from Hood.