Rodney Hood declines player option with Blazers

FILE – Rodney Hood #5 of the Portland Trail Blazers reacts to a play against the Golden State Warriors in game two of the NBA Western Conference Finals at ORACLE Arena on May 16, 2019 in Oakland, California. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP

Rodney Hood is declining his $6 million player option with the Portland Trail Blazers to become a free agent, ESPN reported Tuesday.

The 6-foot-8 guard/forward has not played since tearing his left Achilles tendon in a Dec. 6, 2019 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. He is expected to be fully recovered for the start of the new season.

Hood, 28, signed a two-year, $11.7 million deal with Portland in July 2019 that included a player option for 2020-21.

Hood, a first-round pick (23rd overall) in the 2014 NBA Draft, averaged 11.0 points and 3.4 rebounds and shot 49.3 percent from 3-point range in 21 games (all starts) with the Blazers in 2019-20.

He is a career 37.2 percent shooter from 3-point distance with averages of 12.5 points, 2.9 boards and 1.9 assists in 341 games (248 starts) with the Utah Jazz (2014-18), Cleveland Cavaliers (2018-19) and Portland.

The Blazers may have already lined up Hood’s replacement, with ESPN reporting Monday night on a deal to acquire forward Robert Covington from the Houston Rockets.