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Cleveland Cavaliers have traded Rodney Hood to the Portland Trail Blazers, per Adrian Wojnarowski.
Cleveland will receive Portland’s 2021 and 2023 second-round picks along with Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin, whose contracts expire at the end of this season.
Hood signed a qualifying offer with Cavaliers last offseason, meaning he had to waive his Bird Rights for the trade to go through. Hood will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end as a result, but he can remain with the west coast team if they use one of their exceptions.
Cleveland are rebuilding after LeBron James departed in the summer of 2018. Kyle Korver, Sam Dekker and George Hill have already been dealt. Adding the two picks from this deal, the Cavaliers have received seven total draft picks, including a first-rounder.
Hood is averaging 12.2 points per game this season, a shade under his career average. His three-point percentage is a bit under his career rate too, though that can partly be put down to how bad the Cavaliers have been all season. Playing alongside Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, Hood will get better looks.
Portland are well in the race for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. After a gutting sweep at the hands of the Pelicans last season, the Trail Blazers are determined to improve this time around. The wings have been a weakness for Portland this season – Hood will provide handy scoring to complement the impressive backcourt duo.
There’s plenty to like about this for the Blazers, who need scorers. It also opens up another roster spot, which could prove handy in the buyout market or to pick up a free agent (perhaps even Carmelo Anthony).
Cleveland are going to be very active sellers between now and the 7th February deadline as they should be. Small moves like this might not grab the headlines or bring in a haul, but collecting picks, even second-rounders, is always sensible for a rebuilding franchise.
