Please, no: Why the Pacers shouldn’t sign Rodney Hood

The Indiana Pacers are reportedly interested in Rodney Hood, a restricted free agent of the Cleveland Cavaliers. There are plenty of reasons why they shouldn’t be looking at the 25-year old wing.

Rodney Hood could redeem himself with the Indiana Pacers. He could erase any of the negative feelings created when he choose not to enter the game during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 4 win over the Toronto Raptors.

One play, one moment shouldn’t define anyone, but when you aren’t exactly tearing it up on the court, I don’t want your bad attitude in the locker room. That’s why the Indiana Pacers should get out of the Rodney Hood sweepstakes as soon as possible.

Yahoo’s Jordan Schultz reported the news on Tuesday that the Pacers were, in fact, considering making a run at Hood.

The Pacers don’t need someone to add to their already mid-range heavy offensive approach. While my initial impulse is to dismiss him entirely for this, it’s worth pointing out he is an above average shooter from this area. His 44 percent mid-range shooting puts him in the 84th percentile of the NBA, so it isn’t as if he is just chucking up shots from that area.

Paul George worked the mid-range game plenty, too, but unlike George, Hood is very average as a 3-point shooter (36%) and can’t finish around the rim. It’s worth noting his rim numbers improved in Cleveland, but he won’t be sharing the floor with LeBron James in Indiana.

If you throw out that stint, Hood is at best an average finisher at the rim but he’s truly below average looking back at his entire career with a sub-60 percent mark at from there.

Defensively, nothing other than the wing’s 6’8 size jumps out as a plus. He doesn’t rebound particularly well or do anything else on defense that says he is more than an athletic body on the floor.

Can Rodney Hood fit in with the Pacers?

That’s not just a basketball question, either.

Chemistry was a huge factor in last season’s success. Any moves this offseason will alter the formula that worked for Indiana last season, and there are no guarantees of similar results.

Hood showed with the Cavaliers that he just isn’t happy coming off the bench. While his field goal percentages went up in Cleveland, his impact declined.

A disengaged Hood didn’t have the same impact with the Cavaliers as he did as a spark plug within the Jazz’s engine.

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He played the majority of his career as a shooting guard, but in Cleveland, he played more as a small forward. As mentioned above, the results were mixed. His efficiency waned as he played more and more off the ball.

With Victor Oladipo locked in as the starting shooting guard and the Pacers needing Bojan Bogdanovic’s shooting at small forward, it isn’t clear if Hood fits in with the starters.

And if he’s a sixth man or just a bench player, is his impact going to fade further even with the right attitude?

Throw in the questions created by refusing to enter a playoff game, and suddenly the potential upsides of adding Hood to the Pacers fades.

As much as I’d love to think Indiana can turn into 25-year old into a star — à la Oladipo — there isn’t a reason to think this year is finally the year Hood breaks out. If Kevin Pritchard signs him, I’m skeptical of what he brings to Indiana. But after last summer, I’m not about to count out a player entirely if they join the Indiana Pacers.

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At the right price, Hood could very much be an asset, but with questions about how he’d fit in with the team play and chemistry-wise, I don’t like the idea of him suiting up with the Pacers.