Reports of trades between teams have been a hot topic of online news nowadays. And one latest trade that made a buzz lately is the trade between Portland Trail Blazers big man Mason Plumlee and Denver Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic. Following this trade, it looks Blazers center Festus Ezeli is also affected by this movement.
Ezeli was acquired by the Portland Trail Blazers as a free agent last summer and signed him to a 2-year, $15 million contract. Coming from a champion team two seasons ago, the Golden State Warriors, the Trail Blazers expects that Ezeli will give them a two-way center that is well versed in pick-and-roll play and could also play defense.
However, before the regular season starts, Ezeli already had a knee injury preventing him from starting the season. Latest reports now confirm that he will be out indefinitely and might be undergoing a season-ending surgery. With this predicament, recent news is saying that the Blazers are said to be decided of moving him to other teams.
According to ESPN, the Portland Trail Blazers are determined to trade Festus Ezeli and would to unload the big man before the trade deadline. Right now, the Trail Blazers have already reached out to teams that are below the salary floor and willing to take Ezeli's contract plus considerable return.
The teams that are currently below that salary floor are the Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Brooklyn Nets. And it appears that one team who willing to take a chance on Ezeli's contract with additional compensation is the Brooklyn Nets.
According to NetsDaily, now that it is clear that the Portland Trail Blazers are pitching to move Ezeli before the trade deadline, the Brooklyn Nets is the best candidate for making a deal for him. Currently, the Nets are $6.8 million under the league's million salary floor, which more than the $4.7 million the Blazers owes to Ezeli this season plus the guaranteed $1 million for next year.
And to entice teams furthermore, the Portland Trail Blazers are willing to give out "some level of draft compensation" just to get rid of Festus Ezeli. And the Brooklyn Nets could take advantage on the said offer from the Blazers by getting Ezeli at a little cost plus possible draft picks in the future.
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