Blazers reportedly determined to trade Festus Ezeli

Festus Ezeli’s time with the Portland Trail Blazers may be finished before he’s even able to suit up in a single game for them.

ESPN’s Marc Stein reports on Sunday that the Blazers are determined to move the 27-year-old big man before the February 23 trade deadline and are pitching him to teams who are far below the salary floor.

Ezeli is in Year 1 of a two-year, $15.1 million contract. But a knee injury has kept him sidelined for the entire year thus far, and he only has $1 million guaranteed for next season.

The Blazers appear to be open for business as they just dealt another one of their bigs to the Denver Nuggets. Ezeli hasn’t been particularly well-received in the locker room either, so perhaps Portland will just chalk this all up to a bad investment and move on.