default-cbs-image

Well before the season started, Festus Ezeli gave no timetable for when he would be fully healthy after having a procedure done on left knee. Then in early November, Ezeli suffered a setback during rehab, that pushed his already undetermined timetable back even further. And now it looks like Ezeli might not even play for the Portland Trail Blazers, the team that signed him to a two-year, $15 million deal in the offseason.

According to The Vertical's Shams Charania, Ezeli will likely have season-ending surgery on his left knee:

This is a big blow for the Blazers. The hope was that at some point this season, Ezeli would be healthy and provide Portland a boost on the defensive end of the floor, an area where they have struggled all season. Portland has a plethora of big men with Mason Plumlee, Ed Davis, Meyers Leonard and Noah Vonleh, yet all four of those players are not great defenders. The Blazers have the worst defense in the league right now and while Ezeli wouldn't have made a drastic difference, he definitely would have helped.

The good news for the Blazers is that the second year of Ezeli's contract is a team option, so Portland could choose to not pick it up in the summer if his knee is still not getting better. According to the Vertical's Bobby Marks, the Blazers also might be eligible for a $3.7 million disabled player exception but have until Jan. 15 to apply.

With Ezeli likely out for the rest of the season, Portland likely will look to fill his spot by being active on the trade market. There are rumors that the Blazers could potentially be interested in Andrew Bogut, who might be a nice fit. But no matter what type of moves Portland makes, it looks like its gamble on Ezeli simply didn't pay off as he joins the list of former Trail Blazers like Greg Oden and Brandon Roy whose careers were adversely affected by injury.