The Portland Trail Blazers re-signed a player that seemed out of their price range. They found a quality center who can start for them on opening day and isn’t a long-term drag on their salary cap. And they jettisoned their three most burdensome contracts.
Two days into free agency, GM Neil Olshey has already chalked up one heck of an offseason as the Blazers look to take the next step after making the Western Conference Finals.
The big surprise came Sunday, when forward Rodney Hood agreed to return to the Blazers for a two-year deal, the first year paid for by the team’s $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exemption, the second a player option worth $6 million, according to
The Athletic’s Jason Quick. That makes it essentially a one-year handshake deal that allows Hood to opt out and sign a bigger deal with the Blazers when they have his Bird rights (or seek a deal elsewhere).
We wrote last week that convincing Hood to return to Portland for the exemption would amount to the
best-case scenario for Portland in free agency, and what do you know? Hood so valued his time in Portland, he took a discount season to return................
(I've always enjoyed Mike Tokito's easy-on-the-eyes, fishing-by-the lakeside pieces.)
