Checking in with the newest Portland Trail Blazers
By Ty Delbridge
The Portland Trail Blazers made two significant acquisitions around the halfway point of the NBA season to load up for another playoff push in the Western Conference.
At the 2019 NBA Trade Deadline, the Portland Trail Blazers made a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers to acquire Rodney Hood for Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin IV. Hood is 6’8″, 206 pounds and is in his fifth season in the league. He played four seasons for the Utah Jazz before being traded to Cleveland at the trade deadline last season. He is now the only player on the Blazers who has played in an NBA Finals game.
Hood has had an up-and-down NBA career, and Portland is hoping it can get him back to playing at a consistent level. For his career, he is averaging 12.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from the 3-point line. He can handle the ball, create offense, shoots it well and can play both shooting guard and small forward.
Another move the team made was signing big man Enes Kanter after he was bought out of his contract with the New York Knicks and became a free agent. He and Portland agreed to a deal for the rest of the season to become the primary backup center. Kanter was selected third overall in the 2011 NBA Draft and is in his eighth season. He has played four seasons with the Jazz, three seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder and one and half seasons with the Knicks.
The big man from Turkey is a dominant offensive player and great rebounder, but struggles mightily on the defensive end. For his career, he is averaging 11.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.4 blocks per game while shooting 53.9 percent from the field and 78.2 percent from the free throw line. The Blazers have a good amount of big men on the roster, but Kanter is an improvement over all of them besides Jusuf Nurkic.
Hood and Kanter have played a combined 15 games for the Blazers this season. They have a record of 7-3 since adding Hood and are 5-0 with Enes Kanter on the floor. Let’s take a closer look at how each player has adapted to his new team.