NBA: Biggest X-factor for all 30 teams in the 2019-20 season

Portland Trail Blazers: Rodney Hood

Acquired days before the deadline, Hood played a huge part in helping the Portland Trail Blazers to its first conference finals appearance since 2000.

Against the Denver Nuggets in the second round, he averaged 14.7 points on a staggering 57.6 percent shooting, highlighted by a 25-point Game 6 performance to help stave off elimination.

Of the 42 games he appeared in as a Blazers — including the playoffs — Hood started just four of them. Fresh off signing a two-year deal worth $16 million, he will likely continue to function primarily as a member of the second-unit to grant him more opportunities in the offense.

The Trail Blazers have long been in pursuit of a capable third option along the perimeter to complement their elite backcourt. Opponents loved to force the ball out of the hands of both Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

Before Hood came along, nobody was able to make defenses pay consistently.

Portland made solid additions across its roster this past summer but still finds itself a notch below the true contenders of the league.

This is a team that scored the sixth-most points last season at 114.7 per game but saw most of that come in the presence of starting center Jusuf Nurkic who is still on the mend following his gruesome leg injury suffered last March.

The high-level contributions from Lillard and McCollum are necessary to keep the Blazers competitive in a Western Conference as unforgiving as ever.

Hood will be responsible for making defenses pay for funneling the ball his way, and maybe his presence, as was the case in the playoffs, will elevate Portland to new heights once more.