It's safe to say Evan Turner is pretty, pretty excited about his team's latest free-agent acquisition. After news broke on Wednesday that the Portland Trail Blazers beat out several teams to land the recently bought-out Enes Kanter, Turner expressed his excitement for the move on Twitter.
ENES KANTER, LETS GOOOOO
— Evan Turner (@thekidet) February 13, 2019
Kanter was removed from the New York Knicks’ rotation last month, after coach David Fizdale told him the team was embracing a youth movement over the second half of the season.
That decision never sat well with the eighth-year veteran, who averaged 14.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in 25.6 minutes per game with the Knicks before leaving the team as management worked to find a trade for him. Kanter was officially waived last week.
It remains to be seen how Kanter will fit into the Blazers' rotation. Jusuf Nurkic is entrenched as the team's starter at center, providing a rough outline of Kanter's offensive profile while affording the team much more in terms of rim-protection and overall defensive awareness.
Promising sophomore Zach Collins and veteran seven-footer Meyers Leonard round out Portland's big rotation, while last week's trade for Rodney Hood led some to believe Terry Stotts might cut into the latter's playing time, opting for full-time small-ball that would theoretically raise his team's ceiling.
Indeed, Leonard played just eight minutes in each of the Blazers' two games since they acquired Hood, fewer than any game he appeared in since mid December.
Where does that leave Kanter? He surely won't supplant Collins, a viable switch defender and borderline-elite rim-protector with nascent three-point range.
Perhaps Kanter takes all of Leonard's minutes, though he's surely expecting a bigger role than the one Leonard has played since Hood came aboard. The playoffs are another thing entirely.
Kanter, one of the league's most limited defenders, has routinely been played off the floor by the opposition in his brief postseason career.
Follow Us
Subscribe