Rodney Hood Returns to Trail Blazers, Gets a Raise

Rodney Hood has signed a free agent contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, keeping him with the team for another season, perhaps two. Hood recently opted out of the single year remaining on his former contract with the Blazers, worth $6 million. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, his new contract is for two years and $21 million, with the second year non-guaranteed.

The move gives Hood more money, but if Wojnarowski is using “non-guaranteed” in its technical sense—meaning the Blazers can buy out the second year of the contract for a lesser amount—it also protects Portland in case Hood’s rehabilitation from an Achilles injury does not leave him able to perform at his former level.

The Blazers will certainly be using an “Early Bird” cap exception to re-sign Hood, allowing them to exceed the cap to do so. They will still be able to use their mid-level and biannual cap exceptions apart from Hood. The reported compensation level would mean that Hood maxed out the Early Bird potential.

Hood averaged 11.0 points per game with Portland in 2019-20, shooting 49.3% from the three-point arc. He played in just 21 games before falling to the aforementioned injury, which kept him out the remainder of the season.