Oklahoma City Thunder: Enes Kanter’s Defense Holds A Key

Not many players have ever been in the situation Enes Kanter is in. Maybe none.

Kanter got paid as much as he possibly could this summer, signing a four-year, $70 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder. But he’s not expected to start this season. Many don’t expect him to even be playable against the league’s best teams.

Kanter nearly became a 20-and-10 guy the second half of the year with the Thunder, averaging 18.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game while shooting 56.6 percent from the field. Those numbers for a 23-year-old would normally make you think the guy was destined to be a future All-Star. But Kanter isn’t so good on the other end of the court. In fact, he’s the worst.

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Kanter ranked dead last among centers in real plus-minus last season. Opponents shot 57.1 percent when Kanter was the primary defender on them. His defensive rating in OKC was 110.4, which would have ranked the team last in the league.

So it doesn’t get much worse on defense than what Kanter was last season. Beyond the numbers, Kanter was clearly a liability based to the eye test. Opponents targeted him in the pick-and-roll. Once they got him on his heels, it was game over. It consistently left the Thunder defense at a disadvantage, scrambling all over the court.

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Despite the known defensive deficiencies, Thunder general manager Sam Presti matched the max offer sheet Kanter signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. There is a feeling that this is the Thunder going all-in this year with Kevin Durant entering the final year of his contract. Also, considering the upcoming rise of the salary cap, Kanter’s max salary will only be such for one season.

Then there’s the chance that Kanter keeps improving, especially on defense, something that is more typical than unheard of for a 23-year-old.

Kanter may very well become a good enough defender at some point in his career so that he is no longer a huge liability when playing against he best offenses in the league. But can that happen this season? If it doesn’t, how costly will it be to the Thunder’s title hopes?

It would be asking a lot for Kanter to make a leap defensively so that he is not a huge problem against teams like Golden State and San Antonio this year. There’s no reason to think he shouldn’t be able to survive against most bench units and that seems also to be Billy Donovan’s thinking with Steven Adams getting most of the starts this preseason.

Coming off the bench means Kanter won’t play as many minutes with some of the Thunder’s best defenders. Remember he only played nine games with Serge Ibaka last year and none with Durant. More minutes alongside those guys will make it easier to survive defensively with him out there.

Instead it’s looking like he will be playing more with the likes of Anthony Morrow, Dion Waiters, D.J. Augustin and Nick Collison. It might make that Thunder second unit more vulnerable that it can afford to be.

Feb 24, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter (34) runs the court in action against the Indiana Pacers during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

That’s just the regular season. In the playoffs there will be less minutes to match up with a team’s bench, especially deep in the postseason. Rotations are typically shortened from 10 to eight or nine in the playoffs. If there is no improvement from Kanter on defense, he could find himself struggling to play 15 minutes a night in the playoffs.

What isn’t considered as much as it should be is Kanter’s offensive ability, which will offset some of his defensive problems. He may be the worst defender but with the Thunder he was one of the best offensive bigs. The problems on defense outweighed the gains on offense but there will be times where the opposite is true.

That will mostly be during the regular season and maybe not hardly at all in the playoffs, but if Kanter can help the Thunder win a few more regular season games, that will go a long way toward a better seed, something that is very valuable in a loaded Western Conference.

Kanter is also a very good rebounder. He was the best Thunder player, grabbing 51.3 percent of contested rebounds. Ibaka only pulled down 39.1 percent of contested rebounds for reference. Rebounding is a big part of defense and Kanter clearly has a knack at being one of the best at that. He also does great work on the offensive glass.

He averaged 5.0 offensive boards per game in 26 games with OKC and his offensive rebounding rate was 17.5.

It will be a tricky balance for Donovan figuring out how and when to utilize Kanter. There’s no doubt he has skills to contribute a lot to this team, but he may not be a guy you can rely on as much as you’d think because of the defense. Even the slightest improvement on defense may go a really long way though. If that happens, this Thunder team may reach a level it never has before.

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