November 2, 2019

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June 29, 2017

Enes Kanter
C, 6’11, 245lbs, 25 years old, 6 years of experience

It is so often reported how bad Kanter is defensively that it bears repeating how good he is offensively, so as to not lose the thread of his career. Kanter scores 24.3 points per 36 minutes on a ,599% shooting per-centage, with low turnovers, high offensive rebounding numbers and a range of finishes. Kanter creates about five lay-ups per game, finishes with reverses, drops soft hooks and shoots a bit more often from mid-range, with plenty of footwork and touch, and with the size to get shots away against anyone. He pairs well with Adams when match-ups permit, as Adams can cover for him, and he also clears 20.8% of defensive rebounds single-handedly. It is of course conceded that he gives up a lot of points both at the rim and on the perimeter, but it must similarly be remembered that he gets most of it not all of them back. Really good offensively + really bad defensively = all in all, roughly neutral. Like a good reserve should be.

Player Plan: Two years and circa. $36.5 million remaining, with the final year a player option. As important as his offence can be on a scoring-starved team sans Westbrook, in being close to expiring while also being expensive on a team that is pretty capped out while also needing to retain key defenders Gibson and Roberson, he should be considered very available.

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June 25, 2011

Pick 3: Again following the script, Utah takes Enes Kanter at #3 to replace Mehmet Okur, whose career is essentially over. Kanter does the usual round of hugs, including getting one from John Calipari, who is remarkably subdued this evening. Last year at this time, in the midst having 19 of the his players drafted in the first, Calipari literally threw himself over chairs to get some airtime. Not so tonight. He let his player take the moment.

In a lengthy breakdown of Kanter's game, Fran Frascilla managed to not mention Kanter's rebounding at any point. This is odd, because he's a damn fine rebounder, and it is one of his biggest plus points.

Another big plus point is his size. While Kanter is largely an unknown given his body of work so far, it is immediately obvious that he is a sheer monster of a man. With his huge upper body and rather dour suit, Kanter looks more like the event's security, albeit the kind of security that rocks a top pocket handkerchief. (Security at a boating regatta, perhaps.) The suit is somewhat of a tight cut, thereby enhancing Kanter's frame; he is unfathomably big for a 20 year old, so big that he has a gravitational pull. Stu Scott's trivia sheet tells us that Kanter wants to be a wrestler after his basketball career is finished. And I believe that he can.

There may be a team or two with a better big man rotation than Utah, who now sport Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Kanter and Sexual Favors. But I doubt there's three.

Kanter makes absolutely no attempt to answer the first question Mark Jones put to him. Indeed, the whole interview is rather awkward. He is so much bigger than Jones, and the camera to unnervingly close, that Jones isn't actually in the shot, despite being close enough to Kanter to be legally considered "grinding." Chairs would have helped with both these problems.

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June 24, 2011

Enes Kanter - There is very little to know about Enes Kanter, for the man has played very little.

In the 2008-09 season, aged only 16, Kanter made some infrequent appearances in the Fenerbahce first time, appearing in spot minutes of 9 games. That summer, he appeared at the under-18 European Championships, and absolutely tore them up, averaging 18.6 points and 16.4 rebounds in only 28.4 minutes per game. This is especially impressive considering that, in one game, Kanter recorded only 2 points and 1 rebound. The previous summer, Kanter had averaged 22.9 points and 16.5 rebounds per game at the Under-16 championships, on yet more dangerously efficient shooting. And then came the whole Kentucky debacle.

Because of the Kentucky debacle, Kanter has played nothing but practice and at the high school level since those championships. He dominated in those championships as a man amongst boys, which is fine, but it does raise concerns about what he's like as a man amongst men. Without much to go on other than some tape, it is hard to answer. But the tapes are highly favourable.

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