The Portland Trail Blazers have been granted a $2.86 million disabled player exception for Rodney Hood, who suffered a torn Achilles earlier this month to end his sason, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Blazers applied for this exception shortly after Hood underwent surgery last Wednesday to repair his torn tendon. Hood suffered the injury during the first half of a Dec. 6 game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Rip City 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. While they were unable to get a DPE that late in the season, he is now expected to return by the All-Star break.

Portland already has the largest payroll in the league this season, and the $2.86 million exception can help them make a move down the road.

The Blazers could be potential buyers this season and 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.

Rip City will miss Hood’s shooting, as the lefty marksman 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.

Kent Bazemore, who was acquired in the offseason in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, is filling in for Hood at small forward, soaking in most of the minutes at the position.