TUALATIN — There was a welcome sight at the Trail Blazers' practice Monday morning.
A hulking, 6-foot-11 defensive-minded center was sprinting in fast-break drills, blocking shots during half-court defensive work and holding his own in one-on-one workouts.
Festus Ezeli went through portions of a Blazers practice for the first time since joining the team as a free agent over the summer, participating in a variety of drills in a limited capacity at the practice facility in Tualatin. It was Ezeli's most notable, and perhaps important, step in his rehabilitation from an August injection in his left knee.