When the Portland Trail Blazers signed Festus Ezeli to a two-year, $15.1 million deal over the summer, they were clearly taking a shot in the dark.
As of now, that shot has yet to hit anything.
Per the Portland Tribune‘s Kerry Eggers, Ezeli, who is dealing with a left knee injury, still isn’t closing in on a return:
Festus Ezeli, who underwent a procedure on his left knee in August, is still not close to a return.
“We’re taking it day by day,” said the 6-11 center, who signed a two-year, $15-million free-agent contract with Portland in July. “I’ve had some ups and downs.”
Ezeli was recently given clearance to begin shooting drills, but has not yet participated in any 3-on-3 activity.
“There’s no timetable (for a return) when it comes to this stuff,” he said. “It goes by feel. Some days I feel good. There are good days and bad days, but there’s progress overall.”
The Blazers don’t particularly need Ezeli at the moment. They have plenty of bodies up front in Ed Davis, Meyers Leonard, Mason Plumlee and Noah Vonleh. The second year of Ezeli’s contract is also non-guaranteed, so it’s not like Portland will take a bath if he doesn’t play. Given the structure of the contract, it feels like this was the expectation.
But with Plumlee speeding toward a lucrative payday in restricted free agency and Vonleh and Leonard remaining collective defensive question marks, a healthy Ezeli holds supreme value to the Blazers. He is an offensive project, but his rim protection is pronounced and he showed an ability to switch onto smaller players with the Golden State Warriors. If he ever gets his act together as a pick-and-roll diver, his stock will skyrocket.
First, of course, he’ll have to get healthy—which, knowing he has appeared in just 92 regular-season games over the last three years, is proving to be a challenge unto itself.
