3. Enes Kanter
Enes Kanter was, and still is, a legend in Oklahoma City. After playing two and a half seasons for the Thunder, he became a fan favorite and was best friends with Steven Adams. He has still shown his love for Oklahoma City and his former teammates and now has the opportunity to come back.
Although the Thunder don’t necessarily need another center with Nerlens Noel doing a great job off the bench this season, depth is something you can never have enough of. All it would take is Steven Adams or Nerlens Noel having a big injury, and the Thunder would have zero big man depth. At that point, players like Jerami Grant and Patrick Patterson would have to play a lot of minutes at center, which is not ideal. The games in which Adams or Noel are out or in foul trouble have been the games in which the Thunder have struggled.
Kanter would also bring more versatility to the Thunder bench. He is a great scorer, but not a good defender. This is the exact opposite of current backup center, Nerlens Noel, who is a great rim protector but has never been known for his scoring ability. Depending on what kind of production the Thunder need off the bench on a given night, they would have the versatility to choose defense or offense coming from the backup center position.
Kanter is currently averaging 14.0 points to go along with 10.5 rebounds per game this season and is a walking double-double.