Portland Trail Blazers center Festus Ezeli has not played yet this season. He signed a small deal with the Blazers over the summer due to his injury history and has been rehabilitating a knee procedure all offseason.
Unfortunately, it does not appear that Ezeli will be back on the court soon. According to CSN Northwest’s Jason Quick, Ezeli suffered a minor setback in his rehab during practice:
“I practiced, and that’s what happens sometimes – it reacts, swells up, you go back, regress and come back,’’ Ezeli said Tuesday night before the Blazers game with Phoenix.
Ezeli, who in late August had an injection of bone marrow aspirate, was originally scheduled to be out six weeks, which would have put him back in action around the first week of October.
He said he took part in the two practices in mid-October, playing halfcourt in both workouts. Since then, when he has participated it has been in 5-versus-0 drills.
“I’m just continuing to work and grind through this rehab,’’ Ezeli said. “That’s all I can do.’’
Fortunately, it appears like Festus Ezeli’s setback is not a major one and should set him too far back. On the other hand, with his history of knee injuries, any amount of an obstacle is scary and should lead to caution from him and the team.
