FEBRUARY 4: The trade is now official, according to press releases issued by the Blazers and Cavs. According to Cleveland’s announcement, the two picks included in the deal are Portland’s own 2021 and 2023 second-rounders. The Cavs also confirmed they waived Simmons from his 10-day contract to clear the necessary roster spot.
“Rodney is an accomplished NBA player that brings versatility, shot making and depth to our perimeter and will fit seamlessly into our culture and style of play,” Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey said in a statement.
FEBRUARY 3: The Cavaliers are trading guard Rodney Hood to the Trail Blazers for Nik Stauskas, Wade Baldwin and two future second-round picks, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.
The Cavs must release one player to make the trade work, with 10-day contract guard Kobi Simmons being a potential candidate. Cleveland will continue to explore the market for Alec Burks, who could be on deck for a trade, Wojnarowski adds. J.R. Smith also remains on the roster several weeks after he and the team mutually agreed to part ways.
Hood, 26, had to approve of the trade because he signed a one-year qualifying offer last offseason, as noted by Wojnarowski. He was enthusiastic enough about joining the Blazers to waive his Bird Rights, now focused on helping Portland advance as the postseason nears.
For Portland, Hood is expected to provide bench scoring behind the likes of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, currently holding per-game averages of 12.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and two assists. He’ll be a free agent on July 1. The Blazers (fourth in the West at 32-20) also freed up a roster spot with the agreement.
Stauskas and Baldwin join the Cavaliers as two younger guards who will enter unrestricted free agency this July. Baldwin struggled shooting the ball (30% from the floor and 22% from 3-point range) in limited minutes with the Blazers this year, while Stauskas has shot a career-best 42% from the floor and pedestrian 34% from deep on the season.
With the trade, Cleveland has essentially turned Hood, Kyle Korver, George Hill and Sam Dekker into one first-round pick and six second-round picks for the future, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. The first round pick is protected in 2021.
The NBA’s annual trading deadline falls on Thursday, February 7 this year. Today’s deal between the Cavaliers and Blazers is the 10th different trade of the 2018/19 season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Good move for both teams.
Cavs won’t be good for another 20 years so it doesn’t matter who they trade
Is that when they get LBJ Jr.? Lol
Nah probably when they get LBJ III lol
How many times has Stuaskas been traded??
This is the third time. It says so when you click on his name and go to transassactions
That was transassy. But true
3 times in 2 years
This is a stupid, pointless trade for Portland.
They don’t need a depth guard.
When is this team going to do something noteworthy? It’s crap like this that only seals the inevitability of Dame leaving.
Package crappy McCollum with whatever else it takes to land someone who actually helps the team win. Portland is fully capable of dealing for Anthony Davis. Roll the dice or settle for continued mediocrity for the foreseeable future.
Not pointless at all. Hood was playing a lot of SF in Cleveland and he was a pretty good defensive player in Utah. Portland is banking on him returning to his 3 & D ways so he can start over the one dimensional Jake Layman and Mo Harkless.
As far as trading McCollum…as a Blazers fan…I’ve been screaming this for years now. CJ and Dame were very similar players where Dame has surpassed him and CJ has not grown and you could even say regressed with his inconsistency since the Blazers acquired Nurk. If they don’t move him in a deal for a major star then he needs to be moved for an unselfish 3 & D guard to put next to Dame and some 3/4 depth.
Is Portland fully capable of dealing for AD though? Presumably the deal would have to start with McCollum and Zach Collins. They would likely have to include some grouping of Layman, Swanigan, Simmons, and Trent. None of those guys really stand out as high ceiling guys at the moment. McCollum is obviously the centerpiece of the deal but he’s a free agent after two more seasons so if the Pelicans don’t think they’ll be competitive by then or don’t want to build around him, they’ll have to move him anyway.
I agree though, Portland should move on from McCollum.
Blazers easily win this deal. Hood is a tall 2 guard that can slide to the 3 in small ball.
Cavs get under the cap while picking up a couple of 2nd rounders way in the future. Got way too little in this deal IMHO.
The Cavs weren’t going to get much for Hood; if anything, it’s good that they aren’t taking on future salary to get picks this time.
Those second rounders probably won’t amount to much, but they’re either two more dart throws to try adding talent, or they could possibly be combined for a slightly better pick. Hood isn’t really much of a loss for the Cavs, and they’re in the asset collecting stage, so I don’t have an issue with it.
I don’t know how to feel about this trade as a Blazers fan. Stauskas and Baldwin were out of the rotation and were unlikely to be brought back next year, but those 2 second rounders being so far in the future is risky. Those could be valuable picks if the team implodes by 2021. The team is passing the ball really well right now and Hood is a guy who needs the ball in his hands. The team has 4 ball handlers who are better than him in Lillard, McCollum, Curry, and Turner. I’m thinking this deal is a precursor to another deal. They added wing depth which leads me to believe they’re going to move one of Harkless or Turner in a deal soon. This move doesn’t make sense by itself. I just hope Olshey finally makes a move to try to put this team over the top. It’s not worth it to be halfway between contention and a rebuild every year. Either go for it or set yourself up for the future. We’re in a similar situation as the Raptors were when they traded for Kawhi. Keep a group of players who have played well together for a few years but haven’t really won in the playoffs for the sake of chemistry and hoping they can finally put it all together, or take a gamble and shake things up for a shot at a championship. All I know is it’s a tough situation and it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. At this point there isn’t much to lose though.
Hood has been looking more comfortable lately but that may be just because he is more resigned. Ha! The traditional use of the word “resigned”. Resigned to not being considered a crucial piece on this Cavs team.
This moves enables a Harkless or Layman trade for Portland, so I would call them the winners here. Harkless should be worth more than Hood. I can’t see POR imploding by 2021.
CLE is likely working for a Clarkson/Sexton/Osman perimeter, which makes Burks much more valuable than Hood to the Cavs. IDK if NBA GMs agree. I hope they can get more for him or just keep him.
Maybe Stauskas will bloom in the midwest like at U.Michigan!