APRIL 28: The Blazers have officially signed Hollis-Jefferson to a deal for the rest of the season, the team announced in a press release.
APRIL 27: With the second 10-day contract he signed with the Trail Blazers set to expire, defensive-oriented reserve forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will ink a deal that will keep him in Portland for the rest of the 2020/21 season, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Because a player is not permitted to sign a third 10-day deal with a team during the same season, it became decision time in a hurry for Portland.
Hollis-Jefferson was actually selected with the No. 23 pick by Portland out of Arizona in 2015, but the Trail Blazers traded him to the Nets before he ever suited up for them. He spent four seasons in Brooklyn before landing with the Raptors for the 2019/20 season.
The 26-year-old Jefferson has appeared in just five games (including one start) for the Trail Blazers this season, averaging a respectable 12.6 MPG, but the athletic forward could help shore up the club’s frontcourt with his ability to cover multiple positions on defense.
If Jefferson officially completes his new deal on Wednesday after his second 10-day expires tonight, he’ll make $245,031 over the course of the season’s final 19 days. Portland’s cap hit would be $210,895.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
We really spent the mid level exception on Derrick Jones Jr. just for Terry Stotts to give him 0 playing time and replace him in the rotation with a minimum contract guy coming off a 10-day. Money well spent once again by the front office.
DJJ only played some mn in 1st quarter with the second unit since Nurkic comeback …
link to stathead.com
Interesting comparison, RHJ & DJJ
Stats are similar but style varies widely. RondaeHJ is much more disciplined… sometimes too much so… he can seem too relaxed or even out of gas. DerrickJJ gambles too much. It’s like one went to Arizona and one went to UNLV!
I agree with Stotts here. And Lilliard can be a motivator, like was expected with Whitehead.
Portland is only two games behind the Lakers for 5th place while LA is 5 games behind Denver for 4th place. The Lakers chances of dropping to 7th place are way higher than the ridiculously slim chances of them catching the Nuggets for home-court advantage in the first round (which will make a difference this year).