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Golden State Warriors: What Extension Should Festus Ezeli Get?

By Gerald Bourguet

Mar 13, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli (31) dunks the ball during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 114-103. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 13, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli (31) dunks the ball during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 114-103. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /
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Golden State Warriors
Jun 19, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli acknowledges the crowd during the Golden State Warriors 2015 championship celebration in downtown Oakland. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /

Ezeli’s Value To The Warriors

If you were to judge Ezeli’s value to the Warriors based only on his contributions in 2014-15, you’d think we were crazy to even be having this discussion. Last year, Ezeli averaged 4.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 11.0 minutes per game. He only played 46 regular season games for the team and was generally viewed as an afterthought on a small-ball-centric team.

But with the injury-prone Andrew Bogut turning 31 in November, it’s reasonable to wonder just how much longer the Bay Area’s favorite Aussie has left in the league. Unless he’s willing to take a discount when his contract expires in 2017 — assuming he’s still healthy when that day comes — the Dubs might be ready to embrace the Festus Ezeli era by then.

The flashes he showed late in Golden State’s championship run certainly proved this 25-year-old has value.

Ezeli didn’t really earn much run time in the postseason until the Western Conference Finals. In Game 3, a 35-point victory, Ezeli put up 10 points and six boards on 5-of-6 shooting. In the decisive Game 5, he had 12 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting. Sure those were blowouts, but Ezeli showed signs he’s capable of producing and defending the rim in extended minutes.

Though he was mostly a non-factor on the stat sheet in the NBA Finals, Ezeli made head coach Steve Kerr look like a genius when Kerr opted to play Ezeli over Andrew Bogut in a small-ball series. In the decisive Game 6, Ezeli had 10 points, four rebounds and a block, scoring five straight points in the third quarter to give the Warriors their biggest lead to that point.

The Dubs never looked back and Ezeli’s ability to hold his own on basketball’s biggest stage — in just his second NBA season — was a very positive sign, especially since injuries have held him back so far in his career.

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