Festus Ezeli burst on the national stage during the Finals last season, making a number of highlight-worthy dunks and big plays in key moments. Ezeli is entering his third season in the NBA, and with his rookie deal set to expire at the end of the season, the Warriors have not even talked with the reserve center about a contract extension, according to Yahoo's Marc Spears.
Warriors have not had contract extension talks with C Festus Ezeli and he is expected to be a restricted free agent next summer, source said
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) October 27, 2015
It is easy to dismiss Ezeli since he only averaged 4.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 11 minutes last season but he showed in both the playoffs and in the Finals to be a more than capable center when given the opportunity. Ezeli also seems to be the perfect fit for the Warriors, especially since Andrew Bogut is often injured or can't simply play against certain teams because of matchups.
The Warriors are probably biding their time and seeing if Ezeli can not only duplicate his play from the postseason but expand his game even more off the bench. However, there isn't a plethora of good young centers, so if Ezeli is able to play extremely well this season, he could be in line for a big pay day next summer. If that actually happens, the Warriors may regret not extending him at a lesser amount when they had the chance.
