Portland Trail Blazers is reported to elaborate plan to move center Festus Ezeli to other team. Since the Blazers signed him, Ezeli has never played a single game with the team due to his knee injury.
The Blazers wants to stay open for the opportunity to get better player and send away the center Ezeli who suffered a season ending knee injury. According to ESPN, the team management is determined to trade him before trade deadline on Thursday, Feb. 23.
Ezeli has been with Portland Trail Blazers since July last year after his four-year contract with Golden State Warriors expired at the end of 2015-16 season. He had a two-year and $15.1 million contract with the Trail Blazers. Unfortunately, his recurring knee problem has hindered him to showcase his skill in the “Rose City.”
In less than a month after signing his contract, the 27-year-old player encountered a problem in his left knee. He had to take an injection in the injured knee and had to be sidelined for six weeks. His knee continued to bother him in October as he encountered a swelling and he must undergo similar procedure.
Following two unsuccessful knee injection, the doctor decided to operate on his knee which will end his season short. Such disappointment has made Trail Blazers to actively search for teams to trade the 6’11” center, as reported by Bleacher Report. Fortunately, it has acquired a new center by swapping Mason Plumlee to Denver in exchange for Nurkic on Sunday, Feb. 12.
Portland Trail Blazers is currently 23-32 and slightly behind Denver Nuggets with 25-30 and ranked 8th in the Western Conference. The Trail Blazers will try to surpass the Nuggets in the last 27 games this regular season. While for the next season, the Blazers has already secured three first-round picks for the upcoming NBA Draft.
Watch the introduction of Festus Ezeli from The Oregonian after Portland Trail Blazers signed him on July 7, 2016 below:
