The Portland Trail Blazers lost Al-Farouq Aminu to the Orlando Magic on Sunday. Rumors around Portland were that they wanted Aminu back on their taxpayer mid-level exception, but he got much more than that.
As such, general manager Neil Olshey made a crucial decision to re-sign free agent Rodney Hood.
According to multiple reports, Hood will return to the Rose City on a two-year deal. We have conflicting information at this time about the terms of Hood’s return — Adrian Wojnarowski has suggested Hood’s deal is worth $16 million, but The Athletic’s Jason Quick has reported that Hood is taking Portland’s full taxpayer MLE of $5.7 million starting next year.
Via Twitter:
Free agent F Rodney Hood has agreed to a two-year, $16M deal to return to the Portland Trail Blazers, CAA agents Ty Sullivan and Austin Brown tell ESPN. Deal includes a player option.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2019
Source says Rodney Hood deal with Portland is $5.7 mid level next season and player option at $6 million for second season.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) June 30, 2019
In either case, keeping Hood in Portland is the right move for Portland. The team has desperately needed more shooting, largely because of the role of Aminu in the starting lineup. Hood was a great mid-season addition last year at the trade deadline, and combined with Kent Bazemore he should allow for more space for Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
In the playoffs, teams have been able to clamp down on Portland’s star guards because of the lack of shooting at the wing for the Blazers. Both Aminu and Moe Harkless struggled last year in the postseason, and the weakness in Portland was the same as it has always been.
Having both Bazemore and Hood on the roster should help Portland’s 3-point shooting woes, as well as make it harder for trapping defenders to sag off of the Blazers wing players to help out on Lillard and McCollum.
Hood is a reasonable defender, and played well enough on offense to earn him a spot as a favorite within the hearts of Portland fans.
Hood also said that he found his love of the game again while playing in Portland, and perhaps that led to his decision to re-sign with the Blazers.
This is the time to take advantage of things in the Western Conference with Kevin Durant heading to the Brooklyn Nets and the Golden State Warriors looking significantly weaker.
Olshey and his Blazers are looking to make a splash, and I’m not so sure they are done dealing just yet. Portland could be very active in the trade market moving forward, and the Blazers will be contenders for the Western Conference Finals yet again.