Was Enes Kanter Worth A Max-Level Deal?
Taking a look at Enes Kanter’s contract and his role on the Oklahoma City Thunder roster.
Over the summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled the dice on big man Enes Kanter when they matched Portland’s four-year, $70 million max contract offer to keep him in Oklahoma City.
This was a move obviously geared towards winning a championship in the very near future, but was Kanter worth a max deal?
Although Kanter played well after OKC acquired him in a three-way deal that also shipped Reggie Jackson out of town, giving him a max contract was met with a lot of scrutiny around the league.
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Kanter’s skill set doesn’t have a clear role on this roster, since it is loaded with offensive weapons, which makes getting him the ball a challenge at times. He also struggles on the defensive end, averaging less than 0.5 blocks and steals per game throughout his career.
His defensive struggles may be costing the Thunder more than his offense is gaining, which is not acceptable from a max-level player.
One of the criticisms OKC has faced for years with former coach Scott Brooks was the lack of ball movement and reliance on isolation plays to score their points. Kanter is not a player who will help with these problems, averaging less than an assist per game for his career. When the ball gets to him in the post, it is likely to result in a shot attempt or turnover.
When Kanter shares the floor with Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka and Dion Waiters, the Thunder’s most potent offensive lineup, he is the fourth or fifth option to score. This is why he has come off the bench for the majority of his time in OKC, to be the main option for the second unit. However, the Thunder have a plethora of big men who command minutes on the roster.
With Kanter, Nick Collison, Steven Adams, Mitch McGary and Ibaka all competing for minutes, it’s hard to play Kanter 30-plus minutes a night, especially with his struggles on the defensive end. Most coaches won’t sacrifice offense for defense during crunch time, which also limits the minutes that Kanter can play.
Kanter has not played poorly by any means since being acquired last season, scoring nearly 15 points per game on 56 percent shooting to go along with 9.5 rebounds per game. Even though he has seen his playing time diminish to 20 minutes a game this year, his production has stayed consistent in limited minutes.
In just 20 minutes a game, Kanter has averaged 11.1 points and 7.9 rebounds during the 2015-16 campaign, being a reliable role player off the bench. He also has an impressive offensive rating of 121, per Basketball-Reference.com.
Even though Kanter is an undoubtedly talented and productive NBA player, his situation in Oklahoma City isn’t an ideal fit. In most of the Thunder lineups, the team posts a worse offensive and defensive rating, even if he plays with the starters. While the offensive rating may just be an anomaly thus far this season, it raises questions about how valuable Kanter is to the team’s success in the future.
If he were able to get more touches on the offensive end and become an even average defender, he could thrive and potentially make an all-star team. However, his role on offense will be limited as long as he plays on a roster with two top-five talents on the roster.
Unless coach Billy Donovan is able to find a way to sneak Kanter a few extra minutes and touches here and there, he may be limited to the kind of stats he has had for the first part of the season.