Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli underwent surgery Monday to repair a cartilage issue in his knee, according to coach Steve Kerr Monday, via ESPN. Ezeli had been listed as out "indefinitely" with the knee issue, and the surgery is said to be "exploratory," with no definite timeline for return.
With the surgery being exploratory, it could be minor and lead to him being back on the court by March, or it could be more severe; there's no way of knowing before the results of the surgery and how he responds to it.
This may seem like a minor issue considering the Warriors' ability to play smallball with Draymond Green at the five, and the presence of Andrew Bogut, and it hasn't stopped them from keeping pace toward breaking the record for wins in a season. However, Ezeli plays in kind of a mid-small-lineup configuration, able to finish off the lob for Draymond Green when teams blitz Stephen Curry. Losing Ezeli means one less shot blocker, one less guy to absorb minutes at the five, more minutes for Marreese Speights at center (which can be problematic defensively) and more minutes for the rest of the rotation, something the Warriors want to avoid.
This surely doesn't scuttle them in any way, and Ezeli could be back on the floor in short order. But it's still a significant injury and the Warriors will miss Ezeli here and there while he's out.
