Portland getting Rodney Hood just made things more difficult for the Utah Jazz. Yet, the Jazz’s Kyle Korver is ‘happy for him.’ Rhett Wilkinson Follow Feb 5, 2019 · 2 min read

One of the greatest marksmen in NBA history did not fire away when asked about his team’s pursuit of a player that could make them team a much bigger fish in the league. Kyle Korver didn’t do so even though he is in the final stage of his career, wanting to compete for a championship, having asked that his former team trade him after it was clear that they would not even sniff that possibility. (This is aside from Korver, who ranks fourth in the NBA all-time in 3-pointers made, having been previously acquired with the aim being for Korver to bring them to title-contending level.)

But Korver was willing to talk about another major deal as the NBA’s trade deadline nears.

Portland’s Rodney Hood and Utah’s Kyle Korver were teammates for Cleveland as recently as this season, where Korver reportedly mentored Hood in shooting 3-pointers. (CavsNation.com)

Korver deferred to the “screaming” child he was holding when asked about the report that the Jazz were pursuing the Memphis Grizzlies’ Mike Conley via trade. But he answered further questions, about the Portland Trail Blazers acquiring swingman Rodney Hood from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Happy for him, for sure,” Korver said. “It’s a good fit for him.”

Korver reportedly mentored Hood on shooting 3-pointers when they were teammates in Cleveland.

Korver said that Portland “got better” with Hood — after calling the Blazers “a really good team and a force to be reckoned with.”

(Prevailing thought is that the Jazz as they stand cannot surpass Portland with Hood and earn a higher seed for the playoffs.)

Korver was a teammate of Hood’s last season, when the Cavaliers made the NBA Finals in what Korver described to me as a “good run.” Hood replaced Korver in the starting lineup in the associated NBA Playoffs. And Hood played minutes in the Jazz’s rotation that Korver now fills.

Cleveland has now shipped off both Korver and Hood this season as part of other trades in an aggressive move to rebuild after superstar LeBron James left them last offseason.

Those personnel moves meant for upheaval for Korver and his wife and baby who were with him at the time of this story’s interview.

But Korver said that Cleveland is “on the right track.”

“They have to do it all and it was a good run and they’re all on the right track,” Korver said. “It’s good.”