Checking in with the newest Portland Trail Blazers

Enes Kanter

Since adding Kanter, the Trail Blazers are undefeated in every game he’s played in. He had to miss a game at the Toronto Raptors due to fear of the Turkish government putting a “red notice” on him, which meant he may have been arrested by Interpol had he crossed into Canada.

In the five games he’s played with Portland, however, Kanter is averaging 11.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 52.4 percent from the field and 81.3 percent from the free throw line.

Just like Hood, Kanter made an impact for his new team right away. In his first game with the Blazers against the Brooklyn Nets, he scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had one steal while shooting 8-of-9 from the field. In his second game, he had 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

The Blazers now have two excellent low-post centers with Nurkic and Kanter. Being able to replace Nurkic with a guy like Kanter is a huge help for this teams bench unit. General manager Neil Olshey said it best: ”Well we have two guys who can get a double-double in their sleep. ”

Kanter doesn’t have to worry as much as he has had to in the past about closing out games and being a significant weakness on defense. He is now a backup center who just needs to come in, play hard and produce for 15-25 minutes a night while the starters get rest.

His presence on this team — just like Hood’s — is going to be a factor in getting out of the first round of the playoffs. Kanter can change games with his scoring, rebounding and has already given the Blazers a taste of it.