The Portland Trail Blazers showed utmost trust to their injured guard Rodney Hood on Friday by giving him a two-year, $21 million contract to keep his talents in Oregon.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed the deal on Day 1 of the 2020-21 free agency period.
Free agent F Rodney Hood is returning to the Portland Trail Blazers on a two-year, $21M deal, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020
Given Hood's unfortunate luck with the injury bug in recent years, the Blazers added a kicker by making the second year a non-guaranteed deal, which they could pick up by the end of the season.
Second year on Hood deal is non-guaranteed, per source. https://t.co/BuSgwNbe19
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020
Rodney Hood first came over to Portland back in February 2019 from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for or Nik Stauskas, Wade Baldwin IV, and two future second-round picks. The 6-foot-8 swingman immediately bolstered the Blazers' wings and soon found himself a regular in the rotation.
The 28-year-old lefty shooter was expected to gain a bigger role in his first full season with the team in 2019-20 up until disaster struck last December. Hood tore his Achilles tendon in a regular-season match against the Los Angeles Lakers and was ruled out for the rest of the campaign. He put up career bests in field goal (50.6) and 3-point percentages (49.3) while averaging 11.0 points in 21 games before the season-ending injury.
Hood was unable to join the Blazers in the bubble despite the long hiatus due to the pandemic and was initially expected to miss the start of 2020-21. But judging by the Blazers' faith in him, it looks like his recovery is going as planned and could return much sooner.
Apart from retaining Hood, the Blazers are also reuniting with former center Enes Kanter after agreeing to a three-team deal with the Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies.
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