Evan Turner signed a four-year, $70 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers after finally establishing himself in the NBA with the Boston Celtics.

“I was most definitely comfortable there,” Turner said. “Going through certain situations where there were coaches who didn’t comprehend my game and I wasn’t always in position to be comfortable sometimes. When you finally find that mixture of great basketball and off-the-court [things], you definitely don’t take it for granted.”

The Celtics have missed Turner while he hasn't quite found his place with the Blazers.

“It’s just the comfortability here and I think sometimes I worry too much about stepping on toes,” Turner said. “They have reassured me to play how I play and they will adjust. It’s always going to be a big adjustment getting the plays down. The pace of it [in the Western Conference] is crazy. The last couple of weeks I am fully getting our plays second nature to me, and once again now it’s just building the consistency.”

The Portland Trail Blazers had a significant offseason with new deals for Allen Crabbe, Meyers Leonard and Maurice Harkless along with signing Evan Turner from the Celtics in free agency. C.J. McCollum also signed a $106 million extension.

The Blazers insist they won't end up like the Suns who exceeded expectations and then quickly became undone by infighting.

"We got no haters here," Damian Lillard said. "Guys are happy for each other."

Despite the signings, Terry Stotts tempered expectations even in the offseason.

"We are probably not going to make the quantum leap the salaries might indicate," Stotts told ESPN in July.

Damian Lillard expressed his frustrations after the Portland Trail Blazers dropped to 7-6 with their 126-109 loss at the Houston Rockets.

"We kind of suck right now," Lillard said. "It's that simple."

The Blazers allowed 126.8 points per 100 possessions to Houston. In their six losses, the Blazers have allowed 113.1, 120.6, 105.6, 118.6, 115.9 and now 126.8 points per 100 possessions. Portland ranks 29th in defensive efficiency at 111.5 points per 100 possessions overall.

"We're just not very good right now," Lillard said. "We've just got to keep fighting. It's important for our team to stay together and I think that's one of the biggest strengths of our team is we stay together. If we try to stay positive and we just keep working and keep fighting, I think at some point it'll click. We'll get it right and things will be fine. But I think everybody's frustrated."

"I think it's just communication issues a little bit," Moe Harkless said. "A little bit of attention to detail. We've just got to keep our focus and execute on defense. We're scoring enough. That's not the problem. We've got to get stops."

Festus Ezeli is seeking a second opinion on his ailing left knee.

Ezeli is not traveling with the Portland Trail Blazers on their five-game East Coast trip.

Ezeli has yet to appear in a game following a procedure he underwent on his knee in August.

Ezeli appeared to be making progress toward a return last month, when he went through portions of a practice on Oct. 18 and announced afterward that "The Sheriff (was) back in town."

Ezeli subsequently endured swelling and pain with concerns emerging about the long-term health of his knee.

Kevin Durant responded to comments from Greg Oden, who said he will be remembered as the biggest bust in NBA history.

"Nonsense. That's nonsense," Durant adamantly told ESPN on Sunday night. "In order for you to be a bust, you have to actually play and show people that you progressed as a player. He didn't get a chance to."

Oden was first overall in 2007 to the Portland Trail Blazers while Durant was picked second by the Seattle SuperSonics.

Oden had previously told Sports Illustrated that he was "one of the biggest busts in NBA history" and that "it would only get worse as Kevin Durant continues doing big things."

Durant defended his draft classmate.

"He didn't want to get hurt. That was the last thing he wanted to do was to get hurt," Durant told ESPN. "That wasn't even in the cards, and he got injured and that was unfortunate. But when he did play, he was a force. Protecting the paint. They were so good with him and LaMarcus down low, with Brandon Roy [and] Andre Miller at the time. They had a nice team. So he was a big part of that.

"He's not a bust. He just didn't play a long time because of injuries, and that's just what it is."

Durant said he desired to play for the Trail Blazers.

"I definitely wanted to be the No. 1 pick, but I landed in a great situation," he said. "I couldn't ask for anything better. I would love to play with LaMarcus and Brandon Roy, but when I was the second pick, I was very excited to get to Seattle. We had traded Ray Allen, like, two picks later, and I was like, 'Wow. They're really opening it up for me and really allowing me to grow as a player.' So I didn't even worry about being the No. 1 pick after that. Once we traded Ray Allen, I was like, 'This is my team.' They're going to allow me to grow and make my mistakes. So I was looking forward to it."

Greg Oden believes he will be remembered as the "biggest bust in NBA history."

Oden was drafted first overall in 2007 by the Portland Trail Blazers as a near consensus pick across the NBA despite the presence of Kevin Durant.

"I'll be remembered as the biggest bust in NBA history," Oden told Outside the Lines. "But I can't do nothing about that."

Oden also reiterated that his playing days were over.

"Don't get me wrong," Oden said. "If I was healthy, I would love to continue playing, but I'm not healthy."

Oden previously had told Sports Illustrated that he was "one of the biggest busts in NBA history" and that "it would only get worse as Kevin Durant continues doing big things."

Oden played in just 82 games over five seasons with the Blazers due to various injuries.

Festus Ezeli has suffered a minor setback in his recovery from a left knee procedure.

Ezeli suffered swelling in his left knee after he took part in two Blazers practices on Oct. 17 and Oct. 18, after which the Blazers have pulled back on his activity.

“I practiced, and that’s what happens sometimes – it reacts, swells up, you go back, regress and come back,’’ Ezeli said Tuesday night.

Ezeli was originally scheduled to be out six weeks, which would have put him back in action around the first week of October.

Ezeli was signed to a two-year, $15 million deal in the offseason with only the first season guaranteed.

Chandler Parsons was offered a four-year, $94.7 million contract in free agency by both the Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers.

Parsons met with Neil Olshey, Terry Stotts, Paul Allen and Damian Lillard in Los Angeles in the opening minutes of free agency and then the Grizzlies the next morning and decided to sign with the Memphis.

“I was close. They have a great thing going,” Parsons said when asked about signing with Portland. “Obviously, you see how talented that team is with those two guards. I had nothing against them. I went with my heart on this one. I’m happy in Memphis.”

Parsons spent two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks after signing there in 2014.

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Dan Feldman of NBC’s Pro Basketball Talk and the Locked On Pistons Podcast (@DanFeldmanNBA) break down the NBA’s rookie scale extension and option deadline.

They review just-announced extensions for Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo, Rudy Gobert, Cody Zeller and Gorgui Dieng along with previously agreed-to deals for Giannis Antetokounmpo, CJ McCollum and Dennis Schroder.

After that, they discuss some of the significant option decisions including RJ Hunter and James Young for the Celtics, Adreian Payne for the Timberwolves and Nik Stauskas with the 76ers. 

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