Warriors, Festus Ezeli Break Off Extension Talks

NOVEMBER 2ND, 1:46pm: Ezeli won’t be signing an extension, the team says, according to Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

2:33pm: Myers told reporters today that negotiations with Ezeli continue, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group, which runs directly counter to the idea that they haven’t engaged in talks.

OCTOBER 27TH, 1:17pm: The Warriors and Festus Ezeli haven’t had extension talks and he is expected to hit restricted free agency next summer, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). As with Harrison Barnes, who is also unlikely to sign an extension, the deadline to do so is November 2nd.

Ezeli, who turned 26 last week, was a somewhat surprising extension candidate when GM Bob Myers expressed interest in doing a deal, given the limited playing time he’s seen over the past three seasons, though Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group speculated that the center might end up with a deal worth $9-11MM annually. The former 30th overall pick expressed strong sentiment toward staying with Golden State as camps began a month ago. Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob told Kawakami recently that it would be OK with him if Ezeli and Barnes hit restricted free agency next summer, though Lacob indicated a preference that the team reach extensions with both.

The 6’11” Ezeli returned last season after missing all of 2013/14 with injury, though he still managed only 11.0 minutes per game in 46 appearances. He started 41 games for Golden State as a rookie but still saw just 14.4 minutes per game that season. I looked in depth over the summer at the extension prospects for the Bill Duffy client, concluding that a back-loaded deal with salaries between $8MM and $10MM made the most sense. He’ll have a chance to gauge his value around the league this coming July, though the Warriors can match all competing bids if they tender a qualifying offer of about $3.013MM.

Golden State has a history of signing key players to extensions, having done so with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Bogut. Ezeli has yet to perform to their level, however.