Report: Blazers' Ezeli likely to opt for season-ending surgery

Portland basketball fans will probably have to wait 'til next year to get their first look at Festus Ezeli in a Trail Blazers uniform, if they ever get to see it at all.

Ezeli, who has yet to suit for the Blazers since signing with the team this past summer, will likely undergo season-ending surgery on the left knee that's kept him out of the lineup, according to The Vertical's Shams Charania.

It's the latest injury setback in a brief career already full of them for Ezeli, who received a bone marrow aspirate injection in the knee in August. He will have missed 236 games over the last four seasons (including all of 2013-14 and 2016-17), assuming he does in fact sit out the remainder of this season.

The 27-year-old signed a two-year contract with Portland in July worth a reported $15.1 million, although the second year of the deal is only guaranteed for $1 million should the Blazers waive him before June 30.

Ezeli averaged seven points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in more than 16 minutes per game off Golden State's bench last season, and is a solid, two-way big when available. Unfortunately, he's been sidelined for more games than he's been available since being drafted 30th overall by the Warriors in 2012.