Boston Celtics: Is Enes Kanter an offseason target for Golden State?
By Mark Nilon
This offseason, the Boston Celtics could be in line to make some moves, one of which could see the ouster of veteran big man Enes Kanter.
When the Boston Celtics inked Enes Kanter to a two-year, $10 million deal last offseason, we here at the Houdini deemed it as somewhat of a “steal” of a signing.
Fast forward a year later, however, and you’ll see that, while the price is still right, the production did not exceed the salary in the way we had previously hoped and, thus, now begs the question as to if he’s worth holding onto heading into 2020-21.
Should he opt into his final year of the deal, one could certainly make the argument that the veteran big man would just be taking up a roster spot that the team could use for one of their 3 incoming first-round picks.
Posting per-36 minute averages of 17.2 points, 15.8 boards, and 1.5 blocks per game on 57 percent shooting from the floor, under his current contract a contending team looking to add on depth this offseason could still see Kanter as a cost-efficient acquisition that should be worth considering.
One team that could prove to be a viable suitor for the Turkish-born talent is the Golden State Warriors.
Due to last summer’s blockbuster trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for D’Angelo Russell, the Dubs received a $17 million trade exception — acquired in the cap-space portion that sent Andre Iguodala to Memphis –, meaning they will have the ability to bring on players via trade this offseason with contracts equalling up to $17 million.
This, of course, would prove to be beneficial to utilize, as the Warriors are capped out this offseason with their big-time contracts already on the books, thus giving them absolutely no wiggle room to bring aboard any valuable players during this year’s free agency period.
The idea of Golden State bringing on Kanter’s remaining $5 million was actually initially brought to life by Bleacher Report writer Eric Pincus who, essentially, believes they could bring him on for depth purposes while also leaving $12 million to use elsewhere.
"The Boston Celtics might look to trade Enes Kanter if he opts into his contract’s final year at $5 million. Boston, facing luxury taxes and roster count issues, could choose to compensate the Warriors for taking on the veteran center."
With the likes of both a fully healthy Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson re-joining this Warriors squad come 2020-21, they’ll easily be thrust back into championship contention status. With a lack of financial flexibility to be used on the open market, Bob Meyers and co. will likely look to take advantage of their trade exception.
With this, adding on Enes Kanter to the roster could help re-strengthen the team’s bench that, during their dynastic heyday, was arguably the best in the association.