The Portland Trail Blazers recently brought back Enes Kanter in a three-team trade involving the Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies. It's a return to Portland for the 6-foot-10 big man, and in a recent interview, Kanter expressed how excited he is to be back — especially after getting a text message from Damian Lillard.
Talking to Dionysis Aravantinos of HoopsHype, Kanter shared how Lillard reached out to him as soon as news broke that he was coming back to Portland:
“The day I got traded to Portland, Dame texted me, and he said, ‘Let’s go out there and win a championship.’ I was just super excited. I also saw CJ yesterday, and he was just very happy for me being here. But not only them, all the other guys as well. They were my ex-teammates, and they were so happy to see me come back,” said Kanter.
Kanter spent the second half of the 2018-19 campaign with the Blazers after he was waived by the New York Knicks. He became a free agent after that season and opted to sign with the Celtics, but as fate would have it, he is now returning to Rip City.
The Blazers recently lost Hassan Whiteside to the Sacramento Kings, which means that it is Kanter who is likely going to fill the backup role behind starting center Jusuf Nurkic.
Last season with the Celtics, Kanter averaged 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in just 16.9 minutes per contest. It remains to be seen if he will be given a bigger role with the Blazers for the upcoming campaign.
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