Kanter is part of the core for OKC

[sleestak33]

It never ceases to amaze me the lack of respect Kanter gets and he seems to be the only player that gets criticized and taken out of games for mistakes. He averaged 14/7 in only 21 minutes per game this year and his per 36 minute numbers (24/11) far exceed anybody else on the team (Oladipo 17/5, Adams 13/9, Gibson 15/7) making him an extremely important and valuable player with his desperately needed offensive contributions, specifically on the offensive glass where he's arguably the best in the NBA averaging more than 4 per game. Those offensive rebounds are like steals because they give the team an extra possession and he can create his own offense without ever being passed the ball. There are 4 bigs in the NBA averaging 20/10 and Kanter easily would average that if given 32-34 minutes which is about what he should be playing as the starting power forward. Kanter's first year in OKC he averaged 19/11 in only 31 minutes. For the fans and media who continue to harp on his defense I will direct you to James Harden who is widely considered to be a terrible defender. Doesn't seem to be bothering him too much as he just kicked OKC's ass and is probably going to finish runner up in the MVP voting. I just don't get how Kanter gets pulled against Houston so quickly but when Adams allows Nene in game 4 to go 12-12 with 28 pts. and 12 rbds. in only 25 minutes he doesn't get yanked out. Or when Roberson is going 2-12 in game 4 on free throws he doesn't get yanked. Or when Roberson is going 1-7 for 3 pts. in 37 minutes in game 5 he doesn't get yanked. It's ridiculous that Donovan gave up on him so quick when they so desperately needed his scoring and rebounding. Matching lineups and not playing Kanter against the Warriors and Rockets resulted in OKC going 2-11 against those teams combined. But yeah, keep talking about his defense and how we need to trade him.

[Kizz Fastfists]

Kanter could be a core part of the Thunder in '17-'18 if they trade Russ, Dipo and Adams to tank. Kanter could lead them all the way to the #1 pick! Kanter could lead a historic OKC team that sets records for points allowed and FG% allowed. Kanter would get his 20 and 10 which would give him a higher PPG total than OKC's win total. A terrible defensive wing, like Harden or IT, can have their mistakes covered by their center. A bad center doesn't have anyone closer to the basket to cover their defensive mistakes. That is why NBA teams have realized how important defensive centers. Cousins has put up 20 and 10 for four straight years. How did that work out for Sacramento?

[bondom34]

He is? They're tanking? Well, guess we might as well wait til the draft next year he can lead us to the number 1 pick.

[InTheSabonus]

Kanter scores on bad teams.

He gets scored on at will by the good teams.

Here's two scoring scenarios, one for us, one for the other team. Let's say Houston or Golden State. Let's see which is more likely to result in a bucket.

Kanter posts up. Gets the ball. Instantly triple teamed. Throws one of his feet around, tries to finesse through 3 players, puts up a HEAVILY contested shot.

The other team: Pick and roll with their center. Kanter gets switched on to the guard. Kanter doesn't move because he gets concrete feet on defense. Guard drives past him, and assuming the other team has a stretch 4, there's nobody in the pain.

The guard will score every. Single. Time. Kanter will score rarely.

Kanter is very talented offensively. But he cannot, in any way, be relied on against the good teams. Great for him, he can destroy **** opposing backup centers on bad teams. But the guy doesn't pass the ball. Ever. So it's too safe to just throw a triple team at him. Maybe it's him, maybe Donovan just tells him to try and score on it. Either way, our bench offense is entirely dependent, and I mean entirely, on a guy that you flatout can't play against certain teams.

And it's not just because of his defense- again, he can't score when teams send their best defenders at him, but he'll try to anyway. When it matters most he becomes a huge liability on both ends. He's handy for some heavy bench lifting in the regular season, but we cannot rely on him to BE our bench. Because when we can't play him- ie in the Houston series- What's the plan B? I mean, we don't have a plan C, our offense is either a) Russell or b) Enes, and when you can't play Enes, it makes a bad offense even worse. He needs to be replaced and we totally need to revamp the bench so we can trot out consistent lineups against ANY team.

[Bergmaniac]

Bigs are far more important defensively than guards. You can get away with playing a poor defender at a guard position pretty easily against most teams. But a centre who can't defend pick and rolls and protect the rim is a far bigger liability defensively.

Also Kanter's offensive impact isn't as big as his scoring numbers suggest. First, he mostly plays against backups so he's usually not defended by the top post defenders. Second and more important, he's a total black hole on offense. He'd get his points usually, even though sometimes at a pretty bad percentage due to forcing shots double teams, but he doesn't make his teammates better offensively because he barely ever passes and it's pretty easy to double team or even triple team him and get away with it.

In fairness, he is a great pick and roll player and should be used much more this way. But your backup PGs suck at running it and his defensive issues make it hard to use him against starters together with Westbrook.

BTW, he is always had terrible net rating against the Warriors (both this season and last season's playoffs and regular season), so I don't know why you keep bringing up the fact that he doesn't play against them as some coaching failure. He also had a horrible TS% of 50.3% against them this season.

[sleestak33]

Adams was destroyed dozens of times this year and in game 4 against Houston nene had 28/10 in 25 minutes yet he never gets criticized or yanked out of the game. Kanter statistically dominates Adams. Roberson got destroyed by harden the first 3 games against Houston for 37,35 and 44 pts but they didn't yank him out. Roberson is literally the worst offensive perimeter player in the history of the NBA (I will challenge anybody to name somebody worse) yet he starts and gets over 30 minutes. Robersons offense is a much bigger problem than kanters defense. It cracks me up people continue to criticize Kanter who is easily the teams 2nd best player and he would have made a huge difference against the rockets and warriors if he had been given the minutes. Certainly wouldn't have done any worse than 2-11

[Andre Roberstan]

No

[bondom34]

This may be the worst thread I've seen on this board.

[Bergmaniac]

Is the OP Kanter's agent or PR manager?

[hardenASG13]

Kanter can score and rebound with almost any big in the league, that's pretty clear. His defense is a problem though, similar to Robersons offense. You need to be able to somewhat guard the pick and roll, and he'd struggle vs gsw and Cleveland like he did vs. Houston. Also think Boston would find creative ways to abuse him. The only real problem with him is his contract, as he's getting starter $, and is likely not going to start on this team.

That being said, I don't think adams is really much better defensively in alot of those situations either. His contract is even more ridiculous. You can draft and sign athletic, vertical 7 footers fairly easily now, who are the ideal center in the NBA. Why presti is committed to a big bruising team that can't shoot is beyond me. It's not working.

[Pillendreher]

No. Just no.

[ThunderBolt]

Why do you keep saying no one criticizes Adams? Do you not read other threads?

[Thundershock88]

We can't pay a guy a max contract who can't even get minutes in the playoffs. He has to be traded.

[Osirus89]

Yeah .......we lost to Houston and GSW because of a lack of Kanter.


When Billy Donovan gives up on you, you KNOW you are trash.

[slick_watts]

you've convinced me that kanter can be made to appear that he is a great player if we ignore all the things he can't do.

[slick_watts]

Kanter can score and rebound with almost any big in the league, that's pretty clear. His defense is a problem though, similar to Robersons offense. You need to be able to somewhat guard the pick and roll, and he'd struggle vs gsw and Cleveland like he did vs. Houston. Also think Boston would find creative ways to abuse him. The only real problem with him is his contract, as he's getting starter $, and is likely not going to start on this team.

i think the list of teams kanter wouldn't struggle with defensively would be under five.

enes kanter's problem is although he can be productive offensively, that productivity cannot carry an offense, or even come close to doing so. he's dependent on westbrook. whereas, andre roberson's strengths (and adams' for that matter) are portable across any lineup combinations.

That being said, I don't think adams is really much better defensively in alot of those situations either.

this made me laugh out loud.

[hardenASG13]

Kanter can score and rebound with almost any big in the league, that's pretty clear. His defense is a problem though, similar to Robersons offense. You need to be able to somewhat guard the pick and roll, and he'd struggle vs gsw and Cleveland like he did vs. Houston. Also think Boston would find creative ways to abuse him. The only real problem with him is his contract, as he's getting starter $, and is likely not going to start on this team.

i think the list of teams kanter wouldn't struggle with defensively would be under five.

enes kanter's problem is although he can be productive offensively, that productivity cannot carry an offense, or even come close to doing so. he's dependent on westbrook. whereas, andre roberson's strengths (and adams' for that matter) are portable across any lineup combinations.

That being said, I don't think adams is really much better defensively in alot of those situations either.

this made me laugh out loud.

Did u see adams this year? He took a major step back, very slow on rotations and contesting shots. Still better than kanter defensively, but he's not great. Certainly not 100 million great

[slick_watts]

Did u see adams this year? He took a major step back, very slow on rotations and contesting shots. Still better than kanter defensively, but he's not great. Certainly not 100 million great

what are the 'a lot of those situations' that you think adams is not 'really much better defensively' than kanter?

[hardenASG13]

I'd say on the ball defense, defensive rebounding, contesting at the rim when in position to do so. He's better, but not substantially. They are both problems with their contracts. Not denying kanter was exposed big-time in the houston series. But adams really was pretty lazy himself defensively this year as well. Stuck with him though so it's a moot point.

[slick_watts]

I'd say on the ball defense, defensive rebounding, contesting at the rim when in position to do so. He's better, but not substantially. They are both problems with their contracts. Not denying kanter was exposed big-time in the houston series. But adams really was pretty lazy himself defensively this year as well. Stuck with him though so it's a moot point.

so your statement that adams isn't much better defensively in "alot of those situations" is actually only three situations?

what would you say is the relative value of those three 'close' defensive attributes compared to what adams does well on defense? DRPM has rated kanter among the five worst big men defensively for years and on a large minutes sample. what would you say to that?