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Utah Jazz: Why Mehmet Okur Should Mentor Enes Kanter

By DJoumbarey A. Moreau

Apr 14, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Enes Kanter (0) dribbles around Los Angeles Lakers center Robert Sacre (50) during the second half at EnergySolutions Arena. The Lakers won 119-104. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 14, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Enes Kanter (0) dribbles around Los Angeles Lakers center Robert Sacre (50) during the second half at EnergySolutions Arena. The Lakers won 119-104. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Utah Jazz are a proud franchise that has had a lot of success in the history of the NBA. One of the reasons why the Jazz have sustained a high level of prosperity and achievement is because of the NBA Draft. The draft has been amazing to the franchise bringing them players such as Karl Malone, John Stockton and Mark Eaton. Still, to make an impact in the NBA landscape a team needs to bring a player on their roster through free agency. 

The problem is, how many people want to play in Salt Lake City?

In 2004 the Utah Jazz managed to sign Turkish center Mehmet Okur in free agency and it was one of their best signings in history. Fast forward to the end of Okur’s career with the Jazz. A year later, when Okur left Utah to play for the New Jersey Nets, the Jazz landed another Turkish center thanks to the 2011 NBA Draft, Enes Kanter. Since acquiring Kanter, the Jazz have seen their fair share of bad days and great nights. Now that Okur is back with the Jazz as a team ambassador, should he become the mentor that Kanter needs to become a great player?

Mar 5, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Utah Jazz center Enes Kanter (0) dribbles as Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (4) defends during the second half at Verizon Center. The Wizards defeated the Jazz 104 – 91. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Utah Jazz center Enes Kanter (0) dribbles as Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (4) defends during the second half at Verizon Center. The Wizards defeated the Jazz 104 – 91. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

One of the reasons why the Okur signing was so significant for the Jazz in 2005 was because entering that summer, Okur was fresh off a winning an NBA championship for the Detroit Pistons. During his last season in Detroit, Okur averaged 9.6 points per game and 5.9 rebounds as a reserve player only averaging 22.3 minutes a game.

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The Jazz saw something in Okur that a lot of teams failed to see, he had a lot of talent. The 6’11 center had a scoring gift that most centers in the NBA did not have. Okur’s niche is that he could shoot the basketball really well. During his last season in Detroit he shot 46 percent from the field, and 37 percent from the three-point line. When Okur arrived in Utah he was an unfinished product. His game needed to develop and the coaching staff and management helped rapidly speed up this process.

For any young player in the NBA there are a few components that will help their growth and development. Some of these include having a coaching staff that believes in you, having teammates that want to see you succeed, and finally having a mentor that can teach you how to become better.

With Kanter possibly having Okur as a mentor, it will give him someone to talk to during the nights he has bad games, it gives him a veteran that will share wisdom and insight, and allows Kanter to have a person that can help him with his game on the court. Since Kanter is still a project on the hardwood, one of the reasons why having Okur as a mentor will help him thrive is because of his offensive scoring ability. If there is anything that Kanter can learn from Okur, it is learning how to score.

When Okur played for the Jazz, he averaged 15.3 points, shot 46 percent from the field and 38 percent from the three-point line. In addition, Okur also had three seasons where he averaged more than 17 points a game, and in one of those years he was named an NBA All-Star (2007).

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Screen Shot 2014-10-07 at 10.19.19 PM /

Similar to Okur, Kanter enjoys shooting. Last season the most attempted shot by Kanter by far was the jumpshot. The difference between the two is Okur was a high volume shooter while Kanter attempted 424 jumpers on the season and shot a woeful 36 percent.

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Screen Shot 2014-10-07 at 10.25.29 PM /

Since Kanter enjoys shooting these shots so much, Okur can help him to not only expand his range but to become more efficient as a jump shooter. Though he enjoys shooting jumpers, Kanter cannot get caught up with falling in love with his shot. When he gets to the rim aggressively, he is an awesome assets inside of the paint. Last season inside of the paint, Kanter nearly shot an incredible 64 percent.

His ability to not only stretch the floor, but get inside of the paint is crucial to the Jazz success this season.

Currently we are seeing how quickly Kanter’s skill has matured and grown. In his first preseason game of the year against the Portland Trailblazers the 22-year-old scored 11 points, collected seven rebounds and hit a three-pointer in 21 minutes of playing time.

With that being said, watch this mix and enjoy.

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