Rodney Hood, whose 2019/20 season came to an early end in December when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon, fully expects to stick with the Trail Blazers for at least one more season, as Jamie Goldberg of The Oregonian details.
“One thing I know is that I’ll be in a Portland Trail Blazers uniform next year,” Hood said. “As far as the contract and all that type of stuff, that will work itself out when that time comes, but I fully expect to be in a Portland Trail Blazers uniform next year.”
Hood’s comments don’t come as a surprise — he has a $6MM player option for the 2020/21 season, and since he won’t be fully recovered from that Achilles injury by the start of the offseason, it wouldn’t make sense for him to opt for free agency. The only scenario in which he wouldn’t return to Portland for next season would be if the Blazers decide to trade him.
As for Hood’s recovery process, it was interrupted to some extent by the suspension of the NBA season, but the 27-year-old has been granted permission to continue visiting the Blazers’ practice facility for rehab purposes.
As Goldberg writes, Portland’s president of basketball operations Neil Olshey and director of player health and performance Jesse Elis worked with the NBA to ensure that Hood can continue rehabbing with physical therapist and sports scientist Logan Sullivan, as long as they follow enhanced safety measures.
“I’ve been working out with Logan three days a week,” Hood said. “It’s just one-on-one contact. We can’t be in group settings or nothing like that. Usually, when it’s me and him working together, it’s just us two in the weight room or the training room. We’re getting a lot of work in. It’s been very good. I’ve been making a lot of progress, even with everything going on.”
Hood, 27, has been the Blazers’ starting small forward prior to his injury, averaging 11.0 PPG and 3.4 RPG with an impressive .506/.493/.778 shooting line in 21 games (29.5 MPG).