5. Festus Ezeli – C
The market for Festus Ezeli was one of the most interesting in the league at the start of NBA free agency for a number of reasons. He was a No. 2 option at his position on the Warriors, was quite awful at times in these most recent playoffs, and no one really knows what his upside is. However, the general assumption has long been that the Warriors aren’t going to try and give him the big money he’ll likely fetch elsewhere and now that seems even more of the case as they clear room to make way for Durant.
Now that leaves Ezeli on the open market and teams are likely about to start lining up to throw big money at him. When you think about players like Bismack Biyombo or Ian Mahinmi or even Timofey Mozgov getting upwards of $16 million per year, you have to think that a player who has been similarly impactful with perhaps even more upside is going to demand a contract every bit that large, if not bigger.
However, there have already been many teams in need of a center landing guys, so the market for Ezeli could be dying down a bit. In that regard, this could mean that either a desperate team is willing to overpay tremendously or it could mean that Ezeli’s contract will be far less expensive than previously expected. Regardless, he’s one of the big names left out there and someone that you should be keeping an eye on from here on out.
Next: No. 4 Waiters