Northwest Notes: Hood, Craig, Timberwolves, Jazz

After tearing his left Achilles on December 6, Trail Blazers wing Rodney Hood began pondering his life after the league and joined a small support group of fellow NBA players currently on or recently off the rehab trail from the injury, according to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard.

“I reach out to Kevin Durant or Wesley Matthews, DeMarcus Cousins,” Hood said. “The guys who have been through it, and I just get confident more and more every day.”

With the encouragement of his wife Richa, a fellow Duke alum, Hood re-enrolled in school to complete his undergraduate degree: “I want to do something special… And getting a degree from Duke is special, especially coming from where I come from.” Prior to his injury, the 6’8″ southpaw sported a slash line of 11.0 PPG/3.4 RPG/1.5 APG across 21 games in 2019. He connected on 50.6% of his shots from the floor, a whopping 49.3% on 3.4 three-point attempts, and 77.8% from the charity stripe.

Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:

• Nuggets forward and 2020 restricted free agent Torrey Craig could parlay his play in Orlando into a big contract when the NBA resumes its season this summer, according to The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider. Craig, a two-way threat in spot minutes on a deep Denver squad whose counting stats belie his skills, is currently a steal as he wraps up a two-year, $4MM contract.
• Due to the financial impact caused by COVID-19 closures, Glen Taylor and the ownership group behind the Timberwolves, Lynx, and Iowa Wolves has laid off 18 members of their full-time staff and reduced pay for employees making $70K or more, per a statement cited by The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski (Twitter link). ESPN echoes the news.
• Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell has been conducting workouts with teammates Royce O’Neale, Jordan Clarkson, Rayjon Tucker and Miye Oni at the Sports Academy in Newbury Park, California, according to Sarah Todd of the Deseret News. Mitchell, 23, has been having a breakout season in Utah, setting career highs in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and three-point percentage. The Jazz are 41-23, the No. 4 seed in the West, thanks especially to the sterling offense of Mitchell and the stellar defense of center Rudy Gobert.