Blazers’ Festus Ezeli says he has no timeline for return, will miss start of training camp

One of Portland’s big off-season moves was to snap up Festus Ezeli, the athletic Warriors’ center that Golden State had to let go as it reshaped its roster to bring in Kevin Garnett.

But questions about the health of his knees went back to free agency this summer, then last month he got an injection of bone marrow aspirate in there to help it heal. That was going to sideline him at least six weeks, but it seems it’s going to go a little longer than that. He’s going to miss the start of training camp.

He has no timeline for a return, he told Ananth Pandian of CBSSports.com.

“I personally don’t have a timeline,” Ezeli said while visiting at a Boys and Girls Club in North Portland on Thursday. “I’m taking it day by day because when it comes to this situation, you never go with a timeline. It will frustrate me if I go by a timeline. I just try to take it by how I feel so hopefully sometime soon I can get back on the court and start playing again.”

Portland is counting on the combination of Ezeli and Mason Plumlee to fill the roll up front that Robin Lopez played well last season. Ezeli’s explosiveness is a key to his game, and with that the Blazers know he needs to get right before he comes back. There will be no pressure.