Enes Kanter is happy he left the New York Knicks on good terms after an up-and-down season with the team

Kanter was waived by the Knicks, as he was unhappy with his role and playing time with the franchise that is clearly in a rebuild mode. The big man then decided to join the Portland Trail Blazers after clearing waivers.

Now, Kanter has opened up what happened during the trade deadline and the events that led to his eventual release from the team.

“My agent explained to me that if there was no trade by the deadline, they would look into releasing me,” Kanter told JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors. “I said, ‘Okay, that’s cool.’ I went to the meeting and talked with Coach Fiz, Scott Perry and Steve Mills.

“I’m happy that I left the Knicks on good terms. They told me, ‘We know that you want to play and you want to win. That’s why we’re releasing you — so you can go and chase your dreams.’ My dream from day one has been the playoffs. They explained to me their situation, and they said to just go out there and do my thing. So I was very happy about that.”

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Enes Kanter has appeared in nine games with the Blazers, and he's scoring and rebounding the ball well for them.

The Knicks acquired Kanter in 2017 in the Carmelo Anthony trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 26-year-old averaged 14.0 points in 115 games with the Knicks.