It appears that Portland’s injury-riddle center will not be in town next season. His inability to play hurt the Blazers the most in the playoffs when a backup center was needed.
Neil Olshey had this to say about Festus Ezeli during exit interviews:
Neil Olshey said Festus Ezeli will not be on the roster next season.
— Joe Freeman (@BlazerFreeman) April 25, 2017
Which begs the question, how great would it have been to have Ezeli as Portland’s backup center this season?
The six-foot-eleven-inch Nigerian big man had just came off two deep playoff runs with the Warriors, coming away with a ring in 2014-15. In a young locker room, his veteran presence and winning history would have been huge.
Then there’s also the fact that his athletic capabilities combined with his size made him a major defensive threat. While the Blazers were trotting out Mason Plumlee to hold down the paint, Ezeli would have been able to provide real authority down low.
Ezeli in the Playoffs
When the Blazers really needed him, though, was in the playoffs. As Jusuf Nurkić went down, Portland turned to Meyers Leonard and Noah Vonleh to hold down the five—Al-Farouq Aminu even played five in small-ball lineups.
While those three tried to make an impact like Nurk had done, it was not nearly enough. Leonard is a shooter; Vonleh is more of a four, not built for extended banging in the post; and Aminu is better at hounding wings.
JaVale McGee made sure to feast on the Blazers’ lack of depth: the center had 11 dunks in four games, and had a FG% of 95.7 within three feet or less, per Basketball Reference. His average distance away from the basket was one, as in, one single foot away from the basket.
Given his eight-foot wingspan, that’s an arm’s length away from a dunk.
Portland really needed Ezeli to bang with McGee and make him work for his buckets. As Draymond Green successfully lobbed it up to him everal times, Ezeli would have snuffed it out for a deflection, and even a possible steal.
On the other end, Ezeli would have been the big, bruising body that Nurk would have provided. He could’ve opened things up more for Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum as the defense adjusted from Game Two on.
Alas, these are all what-ifs around the impact Ezeli would have had in the regular season and beyond. The Blazers wouldn’t have upset Golden State with Ezeli, but taking a game from the Warriors seems a lot more possible.
But, he wasn’t there when the Blazers needed him, and now he’s set to become a free agent while the Blazers still have a gaping hole at backup center.
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