Festus Ezeli was expected to be paid starter money this offseason but the market for centers slowed down dramatically after the initial days of free agency and he settled for a two-year, $14.7 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. When free agency started at midnight on July 1st, Timofey Mozgov signed the first free agency deal with the Lakers for $64 million over four seasons. The difference in both annual value and overall value is indescribably staggering.

It was difficult to conceptualize what Ezeli could look like playing starter minutes and he’s unlikely to do so with Portland. Ezeli averaged 16.7 minutes in just 46 games this past season with the Warriors. This concern comes out of how his per minute numbers will hold up and also if his often-injured body can handle the wear, tear and exposure. Not only does Ezeli struggle to stay on the court but so much of his value is predicated on his athleticism, which is a risky combination that’s of course mitigated for Portland on only a two-year deal that has a team option for Year 2.

Steve Kerr hardly trusted Ezeli in the playoffs even when the matchup appeared favorable to him, but he also looked incredible at times against the Blazers in the second round. Ultimately, Ezeli was the only Warriors’ player with a negative net rating in the playoffs.

Ezeli is one of the best rebounders in the game and also keeps getting better as a rim protector, which was quite clearly one of Portland’s biggest needs entering the offseason. Ezeli was second in the NBA in Nylon Calculus’ Rim Protection stat this past season and an incredible 4.32 points saved per 36 minutes.

Ezeli is a robot on offense when he has to create his own opportunities, but he does dive to the rim hard with agility for lob dunks and putbacks off misses.

The Warriors’ regular starting lineup with Ezeli in place of Andrew Bogut had a net rating of 30.2, which ranked sixth in the NBA. Golden State was 5.3 points per 100 possessions better on defense with Ezeli on the floor, which is comparable to how much better they were on that end of the floor with Andrew Bogut at 5.8. 

With Mason Plumlee and Ezeli taking the majority of center minutes for the Blazers, Terry Stotts will be able to play in multiple ways at that position. I somehow don’t love Evan Turner’s game yet was in the minority on not hating his signing by the Blazers and a frontcourt with him, Al-Farouq Aminu and Ezeli will give Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum a ton of much needed cover defensively. The Blazers were 20th in the NBA in defensive efficiency last season and they should improve upon that number to at least above average if Ezeli can play 20 minutes in at least 65 games. 

When factoring in signing Ezeli for such a lower number than expected, the Turner deal looks better in hindsight since these types of players were the clear priorities of the Blazers.

With Ezeli signed to go with Plumlee and Ed Davis, the Blazers would seem unlikely to retain Meyers Leonard who has a much more promising future at center than at power forward.

Grade for Blazers: A

Ezeli was a restricted free agent until July 4th and the Warriors’ pursuit and eventual signing of Kevin Durant clearly cost him a lot of money. Ezeli was always going to be a gamble in free agency due to his injury history and teams were unwilling to tie up their cap space on a maybe so they shifted to the unrestricted centers like Mozgov, Bismack Biyombo, Ian Mahinmi and Cole Aldrich. Ezeli didn’t get started with the Blazers until July 6th even though they quickly moved from there.

The Warriors signed Adonal Foyle to a six-year, $42 million deal in 2004 when the cap was at $43.84 million, who was similarly limited on offense with great rim protection. Ezeli is a far better player and even a few years younger but the injury concerns and poor timing surely cost him substantial money. Ezeli was expected to get at least a four-year, $40 million deal, especially since he finished the offseason healthy.

Ezeli will receive a more consistent opportunity with the Blazers and their developmental system has been great under Neil Olshey, which could give him the chance to reenter free agency at 28 in two seasons looking at a better deal. At that point though, no team will be paying for potential which could have given him more money this time around. 

Grade for Festus Ezeli: D+