Blazers awarded hardship rule by NBA

The Portland Trail Blazers were awarded a hardship exception by the NBA last Sunday, the team announced Wednesday.

Portland now has the option of signing a 16th player to a non-guaranteed contract until one of its four most-recent injured players returns.

The Blazers are down to nine healthy players on their 15-man roster. Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Nicolas Batum, Travis Outlaw, Jeff Pendergraph and Patty Mills are all inactive or injured.

Portland received the hardship exception after Oden missed Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. If the Blazers do sign a player, the person could stay on their roster until one of the team’s four most-recent injured athletes — likely Fernandez — returns to action.