Seen as somewhat of a steal signing for the Boston Celtics last offseason, Ennes Kanter has struggled to convince the franchise he is a longterm fit. If he winds up turning down his player option, where might the veteran big’s best fit be?
When the Boston Celtics inked Enes Kanter to a 2-year, $10 million (second year player option) deal last offseason, we here at HH viewed the signing as a relative steal.
Since coming into the league back in 2011, the Turkish native has made a name for himself and an offensively gifted, glass gobbling big who bleeds whatever color his respective team dons. Boasting career averages of 11.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and half a block per game on 54 percent shooting from the field, the idea was Kanter would fill the hole in the starting rotation that once belonged to Al Horford.
For me personally, I loved this signing because, well, I’ve loved Kanter since he was drafted third overall out of Kentucky. His glass crashing ability is simply envious, his footwork has proven to be a thing of absolute beauty. With the C’s need for big man help, a player such as Enes Kanter — on a $5 million a year salary at that — looked to be a great addition for this playoff contending team.
Unfortunately, however, the hype surrounding the big didn’t wind up lasting for too long as, come opening day, the 27 year old found himself serving as a primary backup to the team’s eventual starting center, Daniel Theis. Now, through 51 games played, Kanter is averaging 8.2 points and 7.7 rebounds on 57 percent shooting from the floor.
Look, by no means are we saying Kanter is not a good or serviceable player for a team — far from it. However, his fit with the Boston Celtics may be a bit suspect.
If he were to believe his tenure in Beantown should come to an end, and opt out of his player option this offseason, he would become an unrestricted free agent capable of signing with whatever organization his burly heart desires.
With this in mind, if this were to happen, here are the 3 best landing spots for the powerful power forward.
Utah Jazz
First on our list of landings spots we bring Enes Kanter back to where it all began — the Utah Jazz.
When Utah selected Kanter third overall in the 2011 NBA Draft, the team was already rolling out one of the most talented front courts in the NBA with Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson serving as the team’s starting fours and five, respectively, and had talented big Derrick Favors coming off the pine.
The choice to add Kanter to the team was due to their need for a true center to mold into the future at the position for the franchise. Though things didn’t wind up working as planned — traded to Oklahoma City in 2014-15 — in Salt Lake City, they did eventually find the answer at center in Rudy Gobert.
However, unlike the situation they had back in 2011-12, they have little quality depth behind him.
Currently speaking the Jazz bench rank 25th in the league in the league in both points per game (31.9) and rebounds per game (14.3) and rank just middle of the pack in points in the paint stats with 47.7 a game.
Enes Kanter would help solve all these problems for Utah in their second unit for he lives for crashing the glass — averages a 19.3 percent Total Rebound Percentage for his career –, is a low post offensive beast and, with the fact that the team already has a great defense in both of their units, major skills on that end of the court aren’t necessarily a major priority for Utah when they begin to sift through the crop of players on the open market this offseason.
Dallas Mavericks
This one has more to do with Enes Kanter’s relationship with Kristaps Porzingis than solely just fit, but the team as a whole could still benefit from having someone of his skill set coming off the pine as the Dallas Mavericks gear up for a long run at glory out west with their dynamic duo of KP and Luka Doncic.
Though they were only teammates for just under two seasons, the pair have known each other for quite some time competing in both the Euroleague during summer months and for two years in the NBA before joining forces in 2017 while playing for the New York Knicks.
In just a short amount of time, they formed a close bond. In fact, according to multiple reports, the way in which Kanter was negatively treated by the, then, Knicks Head Coach David Fizdale was a factor in Porzingis’ desire to be traded from the franchise:
"“He was frustrated for me, too,’’ Kanter told the New York Post. “He was frustrated at how I was getting treated. He actually wanted to go to lunch with me but the trade happened. He was so frustrated because I was so frustrated. He was texting me a lot to stay strong.’’ “…every time I was out there I want to win. I don’t care where we are. You want to look at [a young player], send him to the G-League. This isn’t the place to look. He was getting frustrated and he was seeing all the losses.’’"
The addition of Kanter would give the Mavs, obviously, another offensive and rebounding weapon but, perhaps most importantly, it would convey to Porzingis that they want to keep him happy, unlike his former employers.
Oklahoma City Thunder
One thing that makes all these landings spots so unique: they all have a personal connection to Enes Kanter.
The Utah Jazz drafted him back in 2011.
The Dallas Mavericks have his close friend from his days on the Knicks, Kristaps Porzingis.
And, from 2014-17 Kanter was a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Since being traded from the franchise in the summer of 2017, the big man has expressed nothing but love and praise for, not just the city, but Oklahoma as a whole:
"“…I remember from day one they opened their arms, gave me a warm welcome. Not just the players, not just the organization…but the whole state of Oklahoma supported me.”"
Despite not being a resident of the area for over three years, he recently announced that he was looking into opening a charter school in Oklahoma City geared towards educating low-income and minority students. The entire state appeared to have made a grand, long-lasting impact on the big man during his short lived tenure.
If he were to opt out of his current contract and test the waters on the open market, perhaps it’s flow would lead him back to OKC, where he averaged 14.2 points and eight rebounds on 56 percent shooting from the field and a career best offensive box plus/ minus of 3.4.
With Danilo Gallinari possibly jumping ship this offseason, the team may be in the market for bolstering their front court rotation with another offensive minded talent. Plus, at 6-10 he could also fill in for the team’s current starter Steven Adams at center from time to time, while also being able to be plugged in beside him thanks to his particular set of skills.
The pick-and-roll game running alongside Chris Paul would give Kanter even easier opportunities to score, while his rebounding skills — specifically offensive — would certainly be a sight for sore-eyes in OKC — team currently ranks 22nd in total rebounds and 28th in offensive rebounds.
In regard to Enes Kanter’s best fit in the NBA, the veteran big should look no further than returning to the place he clearly loves, Oklahoma City.