Cavaliers guard Rodney Hood will not be fined or suspended for refusing to go into Monday night's blowout victory over the Toronto Raptors, a team source confirmed.
According to USA Today's Jeff Zilgitt, Hood met with the front office Tuesday morning and Hood expressed remorse.
As initially reported by Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, coach Tyronn Lue wanted to send Hood in for LeBron James with 7:38 remaining and the Cavs up by 30 in the semifinal series-clinching Game 4 at Quicken Loans Arena. But Hood balked despite the urging of several teammates, and Jose Calderon took over.
Acquired in trade from the Jazz on Feb. 8, Hood had been replaced in the rotation by rookie Cedi Osman in Game 4 after continuing to struggle in the postseason. Hood, 25, will be a restricted free agent this summer and his lackluster performance will likely hurt his value.
Against the Raptors, Hood scored only two points and shot 1-for-9 from the field. In the sweep, he averaged 0.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 12:52 minutes over four games.
Hood started the first game of the playoffs against the Pacers and played in all seven in that series, scoring 6.3 points and shooting .462 from the field, but made just 2 of 12 from beyond the arc. In a more structured system in Utah, Hood averaged 13.1 points in nearly four seasons and was a .370 3-point shooter as he started 167 of 227 games.
In the regular season for the Cavs, Hood started 11 of 21 games and averaged 10.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25.3 minutes, shooting .442 from the field and .352 on 3-pointers.
Lue said he needed more from Hood before Game 4.
"I talked to Rodney. Had a good talk (Sunday) and he understands what we expect from him," Lue said. "It's been tough circumstances as far as the first round and playing now and getting spot minutes.
"If there's something we can go to that we think is better, we try to do that. ... Rodney, he could be better, he knows that."
