Boston Celtics: Enes Kanter signing is one of free agency’s biggest steals
By Mark Nilon
Monday, the Boston Celtics inked center Enes Kanter to a two-year, $10 million contract. Though he may not be the biggest player signed by the franchise this offseason, the 27-year-old could prove to be an absolute steal for Beantown.
Within minutes of this year’s free agency period, the Boston Celtics made some significant noise as they inked All-Star Kemba Walker to a four-year, $141 million deal. With this, the franchise has found the successor to Kyrie Irving at point guard which, obviously, was priority number one this offseason.
Priority number two? Finding a replacement for Al Horford at center.
With limited funds at Boston’s disposal after the Walker signing, the idea of picking up a quality starting center in free agency seemed out right impossible. Fear was, the team would have to settle for the likes of a JaVale McGee, Tyler Zeller or someone else of this nature. Then, out of seemingly no where, luck struck for the Celtics.
At around 2 PM (ET) Tuesday, Shams Charania reported that Boston had reached an agreement to sign veteran center Enes Kanter to a two year, $10 million deal. Though he may not have been the sexiest name on the open market, make no mistake about it Celtics fans, this is a great addition for the team.
Throughout his eight-years in the league, Kanter has proven to be a fantastic offensive weapon in the front court. While his career averages of 11.9 PPG and 7.6 RPG may not outright scream “game changer”, it is his per 36-minutes average that is what’s truly impressive.
With the aforementioned addition in minutes per game, the center’s averages skyrocket to 19.3 PPG and 12.3 RPG on 54% shooting from the field. In comparison, these stat turnouts are actually even better than the per-36 averages of stars such as Nikola Vucevic, Paul Millsap, Marc Gasol and, interestingly enough, Al Horford.
The main reason for Kanter’s lack of minutes throughout his career (22.2 MPG) has not been a result of his play but, rather, crowded front courts. During his time with the Utah Jazz, Kanter was competing for minutes with Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Derrick Favors. When in Oklahoma City, it was Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams who were collecting a majority of the team’s minutes down low.
During his stint with the Knicks, though he produced at a highly efficient level (14.0 PPG and 10.8 RPG in 25.7 MPG), New York decided to go the “rebuilding” route and opted to take the center out of the rotation entirely in order to give the team’s youngsters more playing time. And with Portland, Kanter was indeed effective when on the floor, but the fact that he was learning how to play with his teammates on the fly (joined team in February) the center never had the time to showcase himself fully.
Now, coming to a team void of established talent at the center position, Kanter will finally have a chance at notching around 36 minutes-per-game. With this, the 27-year-old could find himself poised for a breakout campaign.
At 6-11, 250-pounds, Kanter will continue to be a low-post menace with the Celtics, and should build a nice repport with Kemba Walker in the pick & roll game, similar to how he did with Damian Lillard with the Trailblazers last season.
Though he may not be the all around player that Horford is, make no mistake about it, Kanter is a very good starting center in this league. He is a fantastic scoring big who bangs down low and never takes a play off.
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Though sometimes he may be criticized for his defensive ability, for what Boston is paying, I’m sure we can find a way to forgive his shortcomings from time to time. Especially when considering what he brings on offense and in the rebounding department. For a potential 20 PPG and 11 RPG center at a mere $5 million a season, Enes Kanter may very well prove to be quite the steal for the Celtics during the 2019-20 season.