Thunderous Thoughts: Pros and cons of trading Enes Kanter
Welcome to Thunderous Thoughts a weekly look at the OKC Thunder where there are pros and cons of writing a weekly column in the offseason. This week I’ll look at the pros and cons of trading Enes Kanter.
We all assume that Enes Kanter will be traded during the offseason, most likely at the NBA draft. Most OKC Thunder fans have a love/hate relationship with Kanter. On nights when he gets 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, we love him. On nights when he goes 2-10 with five points and gets roasted on defense, we hate him. We’re all fickle sports fans.
There are pros and cons to trading Kanter. Let’s explore a few.
Pro – Enes Kanter is Unplayable When Not Scoring In New NBA
Following the Houston Rockets series, it would appear that Enes Kanter has no place in Oklahoma City. He was burned on every pick-and-roll and shot 38 percent from the field, which isn’t good when you consider that the majority of his shots come from the paint. Kanter’s 1-5 performance and a minus -9 in eight minutes in Game 4 was an overlooked reason for OKC losing that game.
If Enes Kanter isn’t scoring against teams like the Rockets, the Warriors, and any other team that hunt match-ups and plays a brand of spread basketball, he doesn’t have a place on the court. He’s not a bad one-on-one defender down low, but with back-to-the-basket basketball becoming less and less of a factor, Kanter is forced to defend in space. He can’t defend in space.
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With the Thunder being a defense-first team, they can’t have a defensive weak link like Kanter on the court. Again, when he’s scoring, his defense is less of a problem. But when he’s not scoring, he bogs down the second unit and gets scored on the majority of the time.
Con – He’s 24 and It Might Work
Enes Kanter is only 24. He’ll be 25 in two days, but he’s still a young player who has shown that he can improve on the defensive end. He’s never going to become an elite defender as a big, but it could work.
What I mean by that is, he’s not the only defensively helpless big man in the league. The Spurs just won a playoff series, against the same Rockets that beat the Thunder, by playing Paul Gasol and David Lee 25 minutes and 15 minutes respectively. The difference between Kanter and those two is that they’re veteran players who have learned how to mask their weaknesses, and the Spurs have a system that helps them mask their weaknesses.
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Billy Donovan and the Thunder don’t quite have that system. That’s not quite his fault. This was only his second season in the league. Gregg Popovich, even before he became a head coach, spent six years as an NBA assistant. He’s been doing this a while. Pop proved that you can still win in the league by playing big if you need to.
It’s possible that Kanter continues to get better defensively and that Donovan is able to create a system that does a better job of masking his weaknesses. If that happens, and Kanter diversifies himself on offense, he could become an even bigger asset.
Pro – His Contract and Returning Assets
With the extensions for Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams kicking in, OKC has no flexibility in the offseason should they hope to sign any free agents. Trading Kanter gives them a little more room to work with, not only this offseason, but in the following offseason as well. With the cap rising and teams giving guys like Timofey Mozgov $16 million per year, Kanter’s $17.5 million deal doesn’t look quite as bad to other teams.
And, of course, trading Kanter means something coming back in return. If Sam Presti and company determine that Kanter doesn’t fit with the mold that they’re trying to create moving forward, they’ll get someone in return who does. Whether that’s a better wing player, a draft pick, a back-up point guard, or a combination of the three is anyone’s guess. But a trade brings a new hope and excitement, which is always pretty cool.
Con – Chemistry
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
Chemistry can’t be accounted for. There’s no guarantee that whoever OKC brings in to replace Kanter will fit in the locker room. Given OKC’s environment and leadership, one would think that things would be fine, but again, that’s not a guarantee.
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The Thunder know what they have with Kanter in the locker room. He and Steven Adams are best friends off the court. Russell Westbrook appears to love him. He’s a guy who always seems to have a smile on his face and is joking around.
There’s also no guarantee that the players are happy with the trade. As mentioned, everyone, especially Westbrook and Adams, seems to enjoy being around Kanter. If he gets traded, what will they think? They’ll say that, “it’s a business,” but these guys are humans with emotions. It won’t be easy for them to see one of their friends get dealt for an unknown.
I’m pro trading Kanter because I love trades and think we know the ceiling with him on the team. That said, his ceiling could always become the roof and the ceiling of the trade may collapse to the floor.