- Trail Blazers center Festus Ezeli is receiving another medical opinion on his left knee injury, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. The former Warriors reserve, who signed a two-year, $16MM contract to join Portland, hasn’t appeared in a game this season since undergoing a knee procedure this summer.
- Evan Turner is feeling the frustration of his slow start in Portland, relays Jason Quick of CSNNW. The Trail Blazers gave Turner a four-year, $70MM deal this summer to add backcourt depth and another ballhandler. However, he is playing less than 24 minutes per game and averaging 6.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per night. He has 20 turnovers to go with 24 assists and appears bothered by his lack of playing time. “What can you possibly do?’’ Turner asked after Friday’s game. “When you get three shots and play 27 minutes … that’s not a knock, because we have the best guards in the league, but I mean, what can I possibly do besides be accountable to defense, take care of the ball, rebound, and play the floor? Where I just came from, I had the ball in my hands tons of times to make plays.’’
Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu will be sidelined for at least a “couple of weeks” due to a calf injury, Casey Holdahl of NBA.com reports. Coach Terry Stotts told members of the media that Aminu would be “reevaluated in a couple weeks,” which means that the 6’9″ forward will be in street clothes for the rest of the month, if not longer.
The 26-year-old suffered a left calf strain during Portland’s victory versus the Suns on November 8th. Aminu did not play in the Blazers’ loss to the Clippers on Wednesday, with Noah Vonleh getting the start in his place. The loss of Aminu certainly places additional strain on the team’s frontcourt depth, with Festus Ezeli already out until December with knee woes.
Aminu, who is earning $7,680,965 this season, has appeared in eight games thus far, averaging 6.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 steals in 26.1 minutes per outing. His shooting line is .279/.250/.533.
Former number one overall pick Greg Oden believes he’ll go down as the biggest bust in NBA history, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com writes. The ex-Blazers center, who has talked in the past about his place among the most disappointing draft picks in league history, made his latest comment to ESPN’s Outside The Lines.
“I’ll be remembered as the biggest bust in NBA history,” Oden said. “But I can’t do nothing about that.”
The former Trail Blazers center, who appeared in just 105 total NBA games due to a history of knee injuries, also reiterated statements he has made about shutting down any attempts at a return to the court. Oden made an effort last season to revive his playing career in China, but acknowledges now that it’s no longer a possibility, even if he’d like it to be.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Oden said. “If I was healthy, I would love to continue playing, but I’m not healthy.”
Oden is currently back at Ohio State University, working with the basketball team and taking classes in an effort to complete his degree.
What do you think? Is Oden’s self-assessment harsh, but fair? Or would you consider another player as a bigger bust than 2007’s first overall pick?
One of the Trail Blazers’ free agent additions this summer, center Festus Ezeli, has yet to make his debut with the team, and suffered a minor setback last month in his effort to return from a knee issue, writes Jason Quick of CSNNW.com.
According to Quick, Ezeli took part in a pair of Portland practices in mid-October, which led to swelling in his troublesome left knee. The Blazers pulled back on his activity at that point, and have only allowed the big man to participate in 5-on-0 drills since then. The team has said recently that there’s no definite timeline for Ezeli’s return.
“I practiced, and that’s what happens sometimes – it reacts, swells up, you go back, regress and come back,” Ezeli said. “I’m just continuing to work and grind through this rehab. That’s all I can do.”
Ezeli, who signed a two-year, $15MM+ deal with the Blazers earlier this year, had his left knee injected with a bone marrow aspirate concentrate back in late August. At that point, the Blazers indicated that the ex-Warrior was expected to be sidelined for six weeks. However, he continues to rehab his knee two and a half months later.
Ezeli underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee back in February, and according to a July report by Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, a number of teams passed on signing the big man because they were worried about his durability. Ultimately, the deal he landed with Portland was for far less money than other solid free agent centers – such as Ian Mahinmi and Timofey Mozgov – received, and is only guaranteed for one year.
According to Bobby Marks of The Vertical, there are 33 players around the NBA who can potentially earn incentive bonuses this season based on their own durability or performance, or based on how their team performs. Although Marks doesn’t identify all 33 players who have incentives included in their 2016/17 contracts, he discusses over half of them, passing along a number of interesting tidbits about those potential bonuses. Here are some of the highlights:
Minutes/games played bonuses:
NBA bonuses are deemed either “likely” or “unlikely,” using the previous season’s statistics as a benchmark, so if a player didn’t appear in many games during the previous year, a team can include a games-played benchmark and call it an unlikely incentive. For instance, John Henson‘s contract with the Bucks features incentives if he plays 60 games or 75 games this season. He appeared in just 57 contests in 2015/16, so neither of those marks is viewed as likely.
Miles Plumlee (Bucks), Luis Scola (Nets), Greivis Vasquez (Nets), and Deron Williams (Mavericks) are among the other players who have incentives in their deals for games played or started.
Individual statistic bonuses:
The Trail Blazers got creative with Maurice Harkless‘ new contract this summer, including an incentive bonus in the deal that can be triggered based if he keeps his three-point percentage above a certain level. Jeremy Lin, meanwhile, not only has a three-point percentage incentive, but also has bonuses linked to assists, turnovers, and threes and free throws attempted per 36 minutes.
Individual achievement bonuses:
Players like Bismack Biyombo (Magic), Evan Fournier (Magic), and Will Barton (Nuggets) have incentives related to their individual performances as well, but they’re related to awards and honors, rather than raw statistics. Biyombo gets a bonus if he makes the NBA’s All-Defensive team, Fournier gets some extra money for an All-Star appearance, and Barton would get $250K if he wins the Sixth Man of the Year award.
Of course, some of these incentives are more realistic than others. For instance, Thaddeus Young (Pacers) probably shouldn’t be counting on the $500K incentive bonus that he’d earn if he wins the league’s MVP award.
Team performance bonuses:
Several players, including Fournier, Jon Leuer (Pistons), and Joe Ingles (Jazz) have bonuses related to their teams making the playoffs. Many of those postseason incentives are tied to another condition. For example, for Taj Gibson to earn his bonus from the Bulls, he must appear in at least 60 games, play in at least 75% of Chicago’s playoff games, and average 25 or more minutes per game during the regular season.
Some players also have incentives linked to their teams’ win total, and once again, some are more attainable than others. For example, Nikola Mirotic could earn an extra $800K, but he’d need the Bulls to win 65+ games, so there’s a good chance his shot at that bonus will disappear about halfway through the season.
Be sure to check out the full breakdown from Marks for many more details on players who could earn incentive bonuses in 2016/17.
- Trail Blazers reserve guard Shabazz Napier got his first meaningful playing time of the season in Friday’s win over the Mavericks, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Napier, who was acquired from the Magic in a summer trade, saw nearly nine minutes of action, with three points, two assists and two rebounds. Napier had an impressive preseason, but is stuck behind the backcourt trio of Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Evan Turner. “It was one of those games, similar to last year, when you play a guard-oriented team,” said Portland coach Terry Stotts. “It was a [good] matchup for him.”
Trail Blazers big man Mason Plumlee doesn’t expect to get a new deal done today, per Joe Freeman of The Oregonian (Twitter link). “Unless I go to my phone and my agent has something unexpected for me, there’s not going to be an extension,” Plumlee said. Agent Mark Bartelstein said earlier today that there was “no news” on the Plumlee front, Freeman notes (via Twitter). Still, the 26-year-old would like to remain in Portland long-term (Twitter link via Freeman).
The odds are against center Mason Plumlee reaching a rookie scale extension agreement with the Trail Blazers before Monday’s deadline, tweets Jason Quick of CSNNW. If no deal is reached, Plumlee will become a restricted free agent next summer, which Quick says wouldn’t be a surprise.
Plumlee is beginning his second year with Portland and his fourth in the NBA. He is making $2,328,530 this season.
Plumlee started all 82 games for the Blazers in 2015/16 after coming to the team in a deal with the Nets. He averaged 9.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in a little more than 25 minutes per game.
With his basketball career behind him, former No. 1 pick Greg Oden is trying to move on to the next chapter of his life, writes Dana Hunsinger Benbow of The Indianapolis Star.
Oden has re-enrolled at Ohio State, where he dominated the Big 10 a decade ago. Now 28, he is a sophomore sports industry major and speaks about his basketball career in the past tense.
“I wish,” he said when asked about playing again. “It’s over.”
It’s a difficult end for the can’t-miss prospect whom the Trail Blazers drafted ahead of Kevin Durant in 2007. Oden was a 7-foot freshman who led the Buckeyes to the national championship game and was expected to quickly become one of the NBA’s top centers. Instead, he suffered through a series of injuries that limited him to 82 games in two seasons in Portland and 23 in a season with Miami.
Oden got a four-year, $22MM contract from the Blazers, but had to sit out his rookie season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee. A foot injury took away the early part of the next season, which was later cut short by another knee injury.
After 21 games in 2009/10, Oden suffered a patella injury that required another microfracture surgery. A setback in rehab was followed by two more surgeries.
“Honestly, it was definitely unbelievable,” Oden saids. “With the third injury in a row, I was like, ‘Are you kidding me right now?'”
Oden tried to revive his basketball career last season in China, but he was cut in January. He made headlines for a domestic violence incident in 2014, but has mostly been out of the spotlight since leaving Miami. He became a father for the first time five weeks ago and is looking to move on from basketball.
“I wouldn’t say I regret anything,” Oden said. “I would say I just wish I did things better.”