Lillard lands supermax extension; Blazers retain Hood in free agency

Published 12:00 am Monday, July 1, 2019

The Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard have agreed to a supermax contract extension worth $196 million over four years, according to multiple reports.

Lillard reportedly met with Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey on Sunday in Oakland, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, and the two sides finalized the deal. The final year of the extension, which would kick in at the start of the 2021-22 season, will be a player option, according to Haynes and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

Lillard qualified for the supermax extension after earning second-team All-NBA honors this season. A four-time All-NBA selection, Lillard was named to the first team following the 2017-18 campaign.

The 28-year-old point guard (he turns 29 on July 15) had arguably his best all-around season in leading Portland to the Western Conference finals for the first time in 19 years, averaging 25.8 points (11th in the NBA during the regular season), a career-high 6.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 44.4% from the field and 36.9% from 3-point range.

Chosen No. 6 by the Blazers in the 2012 NBA draft out of Weber State, Lillard signed a five-year, $120 million contract extension with Portland in 2015.

The new deal will keep him in Portland through the 2024-25 season.

Also Sunday, Portland retained a key roster piece by agreeing to a two-year deal with guard/forward Rodney Hood, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:

Jason Quick of The Athletic reported that Hood’s deal is worth $5.7 million for the first season — which would use all of Portland’s taxpayer mid-level exception — with a player option worth $6 million for the second year.

Hood, acquired by the Blazers at the trade deadline from the Cleveland Cavaliers, averaged 9.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 27 games with Portland. He proved a productive part of the Blazers’ rotation during the final third of the regular season, scoring in double figures in 11 of 27 games, including a season-high 27 points in carrying Portland to a road win in Charlotte.

He had arguably his best stretch with the team during the second round of the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets, in which he averaged 14.7 points and shot better than 50% from the floor and was crucial in helping Portland reach its first conference finals in 19 seasons. He averaged 9.9 points and 2.3 rebounds, while shooting 46.8% from the floor and 35.3% from 3-point range in 16 playoff games.

“I’ve been on record many times saying how much I love it here and I want to be back,” Hood said during exit interviews in May. “But we’ll see how that works out in the summer.”

The news about Lillard and Hood was accompanied by word that former Blazers forward and free agent Al-Farouq Aminu signed a three-year deal worth $29 million with the Orlando Magic, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The third year is a player option, per Wojnarowski.

Aminu, who signed with Portland in 2015, averaged 9.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals in 293 games (255 starts) over four seasons with the Blazers.

Multiple sources reported late Sunday that free-agent forward Mario Hezonja has agreed to a one-year minimum deal with the Blazers, according to ESPN’s Wojnarowski. Hezonja was courted by Portland last summer before he signed a one-year deal with the New York Knicks.

A four-year veteran from Croatia, the 6-foot-9 Hezonja spent his first three seasons with the Orlando Magic, who selected him with the No. 5 pick in the 2015 NBA draft. He averaged 8.8 points and 4.1 rebounds in 58 games with the Knicks last season.

Marketplace