With Kevin Durant heading to the Golden State Warriors for the next stage of his career, his new team has to figure out how to clear enough cap space to make it happen. That means their two main centers, Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli, will have new homes. With Ezeli, it's a pretty simple solution. He was a restricted free agent after they tendered a qualifying offer before free agency began.
According to Marc Spears of ESPN, the Warriors will renounce his free agent rights, releasing the qualifying offer and his cap hold. He'll now be an unrestricted free agent and be able to sign with any team. Previously, he would have signed an offer sheet with another team and the Warriors would have had three days to match.
The Warriors are reportedly sending Bogut to the Dallas Mavericks to clear his contract off their books in order to sign Durant.
As for Ezeli, he could be a very valuable center for someone around the NBA. We've already seen the market get saturated with big contracts. The Los Angeles Lakers agreed to a deal with Timofey Mozgov for four years, $64 million. The Orlando Magic pulled Bismack Biyombo in for four years, $72 million. The Washington Wizards have an agreement with Ian Mahinmi for four years and $64 million. Is there money left for Ezeli?
The Portland Trail Blazers have struck out on Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol during free agency. Perhaps, they'd be interested in grabbing a defensive center like Ezeli, who has blossomed into a quality player under Ron Adams' tutelage in Golden State. Ezeli has had injury problems during his brief career, but he's a player who can have an impact when he's inserted into the game. He struggled at various times during the playoffs and especially the NBA Finals, but many believe he's better than that showing.