The Portland Trail Blazers have applied for a disabled player exception worth $2.85 million in the wake of the season-ending Achilles injury to Rodney Hood, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Hood, who turned 27 in October, suffered the injury on Friday in the first half of a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. He underwent surgery this week to start his road to recovery.
The Blazers had a similar situation take place last season, losing Jusuf Nurkic to a fractured leg that saw him miss the final 10 games of the season and Portland's run to the Western Conference Finals. He is expected to return by the All-Star break.
Portland already has the largest payroll in the league this season, and creating that $2.85 million exception would help them make a move as the season goes on after an unexpected 10-16 start.
It will be a while before the team is able to get some reinforcements, making them immediate buyers on the trade market if they hope to challenge for a playoff spot. The Blazers have looked at players like Kevin Love and Danilo Gallinari as potential answers, as the beefy expiring contract of Hassan Whiteside could represent a talking point in negotiations.
The Blazers will miss Hood's shooting, as he was making a career-best 50.6% of his shots while canning a team-best 49.3% of his 3-point attempts through 21 games this season.
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