Portland Trail Blazers: The implications of Rodney Hood declining his player option

The Portland Trail Blazers were busy prior to the draft. After the Robert Covington trade, Rodney Hood has decided to opt out of his deal.

Rodney Hood was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2018-19 season from the Cleveland Cavaliers. He cost the Blazers Nik Stauskas, Wade Baldwin and two future second-round draft picks.

Hood played the remaining 27 games averaging 9.6 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.8 steals in 24.4 minutes per game. Hood shot the ball well with shooting splits of .452/.345/.805. He then signed a two-year deal with the Blazers, with the second year being a player option.

He started the 2019-20 season well. By his own admission, Hood felt at home with the Blazers and this was important to him. It showed in his shooting with splits of .506/.493/.778. This allowed him to average 11.0 points per game. Hood also averaged 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.8 steals in 29.5 minutes per game.

What are the implications of this for Hood and the Portland Trail Blazers?

It has been less than 12 months since Hood tore his Achilles in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. This is one of the most difficult injuries to come back from. There are not many players who are able to return to their former production once they come back.

However, due to this free-agent class being weak, Hood would have seen this and this would have an impact on his decision. Therefore he has a chance of earning more than the $6.0 million he would have taken home this year, should he have opted-in for next season.

The biggest issue is that Hood is going to try and negotiate with teams who have no knowledge of how his game will look after the injury. He is going to be a risk for any contender to sign for any decent money. This may mean he has to sign with a team who is pushing for playoff contention at the most.

Thanks to the recent trade for Robert Covington, Hood is certain to lose his starting spot with the Blazers. This could have been a factor in his decision. It could also mean that the Blazers are looking to re-sign Carmelo Anthony considering how well he fits with the team.

This would have shrunk Hood’s playing time as he is trying to work back from injury. Covington will be the starting wing for the Blazers next season. If they re-sign Anthony, Hood is third in line and as the Blazers are looking to contend, they are unlikely to tinker with their lineup too much.

This would then have had an impact on Hood’s future value at the end of the 2020-21 season. Yes, multiple teams will have an amazing amount of cap space but Hood would not have had the chance to show his worth. This would have adversely impacted his potential future contract value.

What is surprising about this decision is that Hood had the chance to play on a team that looks very likely to be a contender this season. They have all the right parts to take on every team in the NBA. Hood would have made them even deeper and tougher to beat should he have stayed.

With all that being said, Hood is taking a bet on himself to maximize a deal. He wants to be a solid contributor on a team, not a deep bench player. It will be interesting to see what the market is for him but given his productivity and efficiency before his injury, someone will be keen to sign him.