Cavaliers News: Gary Payton Gave Rodney Hood Advice Before 2018 NBA Finals

NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton offered Cleveland Cavaliers wing Rodney Hood some advice before Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

"I told him, 'You can play this game,'" Payton said, per Lee Jenkins of SI.com. "'You've played this game your whole life. You have to stop thinking about all these other different things. You've got a guy on your team who can do anything, and if you get him to gain confidence in you, he'll find you out there and you can knock those shots down just like you've always done.'"

Hood, 25, hasn't played for the Cavaliers since Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and he played a total of 33 minutes in that series. Before being traded to the Cavaliers at the trade deadline, Hood was a key component of the Utah Jazz rotation, averaging 16.8 points per game. In Cleveland, that number dipped to 10.8 points per contest in 21 regular-season appearances.

In the postseason, he's posted just 4.6 points per game in 14.5 minutes per game. He's had six DNPs (did not play) in these playoffs.

"This is my first time ever having DNPs in my life," Hood told Jenkins. "I look back at my Utah highlights on YouTube, just to remind myself: 'That was this year.'"

One issue for Hood, it would seem, is a difficulty in adjusting to a new system. As Jenkins wrote: "In Utah, Hood knew in advance where he would get his shots, typically off cuts and dribble hand-offs. The Jazz have a well-defined system. The Cavaliers have a system, too, but it's mainly to freelance off James. He finds shooters, and when they don't convert, they sit."

Hood is shooting 41.5 percent from the field this postseason but just 15.8 percent from beyond the arc. That's made him an unreliable receiver for James' drive-and-kicks to the perimeter.

Hood perhaps didn't help his cause when he didn't check in for garbage time in a Game 4 blowout against the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, though as Jenkins wrote, "Cavs sources maintain his refusal to enter was not an act of protest, and rather, he didn't feel mentally or physically prepared to play."

Hood apologized, but he's also been unable to crack the rotation in recent games, even with JR Smith and Jordan Clarkson struggling from the wing. Both have seen more time in the team's rotation in the past two series, along with Kyle Korver, who is shooting 44.6 percent from three this postseason and has been the team's best option on the wing.

Surely, Hood should be able to provide an upgrade at some point. But Payton believes Hood may have his pending restricted free agency on his mind.

"What I want to know is, 'What's the problem?'" Payton asked. "When a player like this plays like that, it's almost always because he's thinking about too much stuff. 'Where will I be next year? Will I get a contract?' You start doing that, you don't play well for a while, you don't score, you lose some in confidence in yourself and then everybody else loses confidence in you. It's a bad cycle."

It's one Hood will be hoping to break in the NBA Finals.