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Enes Kanter To Benefit Most From The Changes At The Oklahoma City Thunder

By Matthew Hallett

Mar 28, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter (34) reacts from the bench area during the first half against the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 28, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter (34) reacts from the bench area during the first half against the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports /
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Enes Kanter stands to gain the most from the offseason movements of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

October is the best time to make big calls. Bothing has happened in the actual NBA season and you can dream big. My big call of the offseason for Oklahoma City Thunder is that Enes Kanter will be the man to gain the most from the momentous changes in the front court.

For those of you living under a rock, Kevin Durant decided to join the Golden State Warriors on a two-year deal, with the second being a player option. Durant is after a championship, simple as that. The Warriors offered the most win-now potential, so he joined them.

Before that happened, however Thunder general manager Sam Presti did a draft night deal which sent Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic in return for Domantas Sabonis, Victor Oladipo and Ersan Ilyasova.

The net result of this is that the only frontcourt starter left for Oklahoma is the wild haired, heavily mustached Kiwi, Steven Adams. This leaves the small forward and power forward positions open for those who want them badly enough.

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The small forward position could go to any number of players but the position that Kanter could slip into is the open power forward slot.

The Affirmative – Offense And Longevity

Obviously when you talk about Enes Kanter in the positive, his offense comes to mind first. Kanter is always on the move and is a decent midrange shooter.

This range is definitely a requirement, as both Russell Westbrook and Oladipo rely heavily on their driving and need an option to kick out to if required.

The other aspect of Kanter’s offense that will be a huge benefit to the Thunder this season is his offensive rebounding ability. He led Oklahoma in offensive rebounds with 3.0 per game in only 21 minutes. With the incredibly efficient shooter like Durant gone, second chance points are going to be huge for the Thunder this season.

The other benefit of starting Kanter is that he has played with Adams for longer than anyone else on the team who can play power forward at the level required. This counts out Mitch McGary, who will probably never play for the Thunder again and also Nick Collison, who is getting a little too long in the tooth to start.

Yes, Kanter has only been with the Thunder for one and a half seasons but that is longer than Joffrey Lauvergne, Domantas Sabonis and Ersan Illyasova, who have not played a regular season minute next to the Thunder pivot.

Adams is even able to cover for Kanter’s Achilles heel — his defense — as was shown during the team’s second round playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs last season. However, this bring me to the negative.

The Negative – Defense, Defense, Defense And Second Unit Scoring

The knock on Kanter has always been his defense. It is not that he does not try, or does not care. There are things that some people are good at, there are things that some people are bad at. Kanter is just bad on defense.

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On a plus side, Kanter did pull in 5.1 defensive rebounds a game last season, he is just not good at defending the shot. He over-rotates on players, or he simply does not rotate enough and does not get to the player he is to defend.

If Adams can cover for Kanter on defense, then Kanter may have a shot to start. The problem is that when Oklahoma come up against a team like the Los Angeles Clippers, Adams will not be able to cover DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin.

The second thing which may keep Kanter on the bench to start is the scoring punch of the second unit. With Cameron Payne out for the start of the season due to a foot injury, Ronnie Price is going to have his work cut out creating offense for the second unit.

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Kanter at least understands the systems that head coach Billy Donovan has in place because he has played for him for a year. With seven new players in Thunder uniforms this season, the second unit may need some help.

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