http://www.basketballinsiders.com/the-curious-case-of-enes-kanter/
One of the reasons for this, explained by Kennedy, includes
Kanter’s comments about his former team, the Utah Jazz. But an even bigger concern for the Thunder than Kanter’s recent comments is his performance on the court.
Kanter, age 22, has put up nice per game statistics in his short time with the Thunder. Over his last 10 games, Kanter is averaging 21.3 points and 13.1 rebounds, while shooting 58.8 percent from the field. So what is the problem with the way Kanter is playing?
Kanter’s former Utah Jazz teammate Trevor Booker summed up the problem concisely after the Jazz beat the Thunder on March 28.
“He did what he always does: he got his stats, he didn’t defend, he took an L,” Booker said of Kanter,
according to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune.
This was a bold and candid statement from Booker, but is exactly what the Thunder’s front-office needs to consider moving forward. On many nights, Kanter looks imposing and like a guy who deserves a lucrative deal. But look closer, and you can see the defensive limitations that puts a strain on his team’s overall defense. In 21 games played with the Thunder, Oklahoma City is scoring 108.1 points per 100 possessions, while surrendering 109.5 points with Kanter on the court,
according to NBA.com. That comes out to a -1.4 net differential, which isn’t great, but isn’t terrible. However, consider that a
109.5 defensive rating would rank as the worst defensive rating in the entire league, including the last-place Minnesota Timberwolves. And things have only gotten worse recently.
Over the last 10 games, the Thunder are giving up
111.6 points per 100 possessionswith Kanter on the court, while scoring 107.1 points (-4.5 net). And it’s not as though Kanter is offsetting his lack of defensive impact with his offense. In that same span, when Kanter is off the court, the Thunder are scoring 110.8 points per 100 possessions.
Still not convinced that Kanter’s box score numbers blur his actual on court impact? Let’s take a look at the Jazz, who have become the league’s most dominant defensive team since trading Kanter. With Kanter, the Jazz scored 102.9 points per 100 possessions, while allowing opposing to teams to score 106.1 points,
according to NBA.com. However, since trading Kanter, the Jazz have an offensive efficiency rating of 101.3 and a defensive efficiency rating of 93.2, good for an impressive
+8.1 net rating.
To be fair to Kanter, being replaced by Rudy Gobert will make anyone look bad by comparison on the defensive end. That, and the Jazz collectively are showing signs of internal development and chemistry that were not there at the beginning of the season. But the numbers confirm what we can see with our eyes. Kanter is not a good rim protector, he isn’t very quick and he doesn’t have the foot speed to effectively defend the pick and roll (though he has improved his foot speed since losing weight). All of this is encapsulated in ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus metric (RPM),
which ranks Kanter at 385thin the league (-3.28), due mostly to his abysmal -3.75 defensive RPM rating. To give more perspective, Kanter ranks dead last in defensive RPM among all qualified centers,
including Andrea Bargnani of the New York Knicks.
