OKC Thunder Offseason 2015

[tleikheen]

All this dumping on Kanter when it looks like their's about to be big $$$$$$ belief that Kanter is wanted by OKC....be an eye opener to see who all has the anger when OKC and Kanter strike a deal

[tleikheen]

Reggie Jackson has agreed upon a five-year, $80 million contract with the Detroit Pistons.
Jackson had previously turned down a four-year, $48 million extension from the Thunder.

32 million $$$$$'s more ....whewwwwww !!

[Bravenewworld]

But you're likely paying him big money for a player that is a serious defensive liability and whose offense skill doesn't really improve your team's offensive efficiency;

This is all BS...........he's never even played with OKC's best player in Durant and Kanter played with an Ibaka who was masking and injury ,two of the big three of OKC's players.Funny how everywhere else it's thought that if Durant is healthy and Kanter is signed that OKC will be seen as a pre season favorite.
Also don't see anyone picking Adams as the starting Center except by the few in this forum.

Yah, i don't really understand the Kanter hate.
The guy is one of the few players in the NBA who can actually be a 20/10 and he can do so with minimal minutes and even as a sixth man. I dont see him starting, i see him coming in after 8 minutes and Donovan using Cam to feed him almost exclusively.

But he is surrounded by four capable defensive bigs and those defensive "issues" are not going to be a problem for the team.
Why there is so much focus on this while ignoring the fact that the addition of this guy really puts OKC over the top, is beyond me. People don't seem to understand that with him, we wont be stuck offensively anymore. Those offensive ruts we get in that cause us to lose games, are fixed. And quite honestly i dont know what people expect. Every player is not a two way player, but that does not mean they don't hold value for the team.

It seems to me that people are basing their issues on the 20 games he played with us, which even if the team was entirely healthy is a poor measurement. But when we add the fact that last year was such a disaster for this team in terms of injury (plus the whole RJ situation) and then the fact that by AS break half the team changed, you might as well just throw any statistics out the window because its not at all representative of the situation we will be in.

[Marcus50]

I don't think there is any doubt Kanter will be resigned or that he will start. There is huge doubt his defense that has never improved in 4 years if nba will improve at all.

[Thunderhead]

Kanter is as bad defensively, as Perk was offensively . He had ample opportunity to improve defensively at Utah.

[Pillendreher]

Yeah, like the Jazz were known for their defensive fortitude over the last few years. We're talking about the Thunder being a rollercoaster the last season, but Kanter being surrounded by scrubs most of the time doesn't count for anything?

[Thunderhead]

Yeah, like the Jazz were known for their defensive fortitude over the last few years. We're talking about the Thunder being a rollercoaster the last season, but Kanter being surrounded by scrubs most of the time doesn't count for anything?

From above

They are just physically limited. Kanter, on the other hand, is outright bad, to the point where teams literally targeted him in the first halves of games over and over last year. Yes, Serge Ibaka will help clean that up, but you can still stretch Ibaka to the corner with stretch four and put Kanter on an island. And that island is easier to raid than a Margaritaville resort.

[Thunderhead]

Yeah, like the Jazz were known for their defensive fortitude over the last few years. We're talking about the Thunder being a rollercoaster the last season, but Kanter being surrounded by scrubs most of the time doesn't count for anything?

Rudy Gobert did not seem to be bothered by this perceived " defensive fortitude " .

[Thunderhead]

Kanter also strikes me as vain , extremely self centered, and transparent. He loves Russ, cuz Russ can help him get his points.

I followed him on Twitter, till I got tired of seeing him tweet pics of himself. Every tweet contained some pic of him posing. Russ tweets pics of himself, but its mostly not about Russ , its about the clothes he's wearing. Kanter tweeted pics of himself, cause he's in love with himself.

If you get the idea that I don't like the guy, you would be right. Odds are, he becomes a cancer , sooner rather than later.

[Andre Roberstan]

Would you guys consider Kanter an off the ball player?


That's what makes him so lethal with KD and Russ. Majority of the times he scores is off PnRs and offensive putbacks. Kanter being a great post up big is huge bonus to his offensive skillset.

Yeah, I mean he doesn't really do much with the ball in his hands, and the pick and roll is where he's best.

I'm beginning to wonder about this contract more though, and starting to sour on how this is going on and on.

He's mostly an off the ball player, but I remember a couple of times where he had a mismatch and Russ just threw him the ball every time down the floor and let him work. I don't remember the game, but there was one where he scored 3–4 buckets in a row and made them switch his man out.

That's something we've been missing.

[Balkman32]

I don't think there is any doubt Kanter will be resigned or that he will start. There is huge doubt his defense that has never improved in 4 years if nba will improve at all.

He has to start because he needs to be paired w/ Ibaka to hide his wooful defense.

[Pillendreher]

Yeah, like the Jazz were known for their defensive fortitude over the last few years. We're talking about the Thunder being a rollercoaster the last season, but Kanter being surrounded by scrubs most of the time doesn't count for anything?

Rudy Gobert did not seem to be bothered by this perceived " defensive fortitude " .

Rudy Gobert didn't have to play with point guards that were defensive trash.

[tleikheen]

He has to start because he needs to be paired w/ Ibaka to hide his wooful defense.

he starts because OKC hasn't and won't get over the hump being a jump shooting team,you've seen it over and over,having a inside scoring treat helps Westbrook and will help Durant and diversify where the scoring comes from on the floor.The offense benefits from getting points from where it hasn't before,inside the paint .
Seeing what Kanter can do blending in with the teams offense doesn't make sense to single him out as the problem for the team defense when he hasn't even played with Durant or played with a healthy Ibaka who masked a injury when playing together with Kanter.

[tleikheen]

Rudy Gobert didn't have to play with point guards that were defensive trash.

Yeah I seen the guy put out where Kanter finished 469 in defensive rating , while all time knowing that now backup Trey Burke finished 441 in defensive rating and SG Alec Burks finished 435 in defensive rating in front of Kanter

and this not playing with Gobert .....if Kanter played with Gobert and Dante Exum (PG) 221 in defensive rating and Rodney Hood (SG) 189 in defensive rating there would be a lot less talk about defense.......Burke and Burks played matador defense and Exum and Hood ,long ,lean play get after you defense ,makes a big difference

[Pillendreher]

I think a big issue was Westbrook's "defense" and Roberson's injury. Westbrook was all over the place going for steals, witch left his teammates on an island. Robes was a good enough P&R defender. PnR coverage is a two-way-street - you can't just depend on your big to bail you out, especially if that player's already weak defensively.

[Andre Roberstan]

I think a big issue was Westbrook's "defense" and Roberson's injury. Westbrook was all over the place going for steals, witch left his teammates on an island. Robes was a good enough P&R defender. PnR coverage is a two-way-street - you can't just depend on your big to bail you out, especially if that player's already weak defensively.

It's also worth noting that IIRC the Jazz had the lowest strength of schedule in the league post Kanter trade.

EDIT: Whoops, meant to quote the post above.

[Soonerule]

Im betting the years are an issue. Presti probably wants him to sign for 5 but Kanter wants 3. A lot of players seem to want to sign shorter contracts so they can try to cash in, in a couple of years.

Could be the other way around.

Eh, seriously doubt that one.
Presti generally likes signing players to long term contracts (this is going to be especially true now and probably next off season) but right now every player that has any kind of major value, has an agent who is trying to get them to be a FA in 2018, 2019. Right after the salary cap bump..... errr... mountain...increase due to the new tv deal.

But hey, anything is possible.

That has definitely been Presti's MO in the past no doubt. We also know something else from Presti's past, he is not afraid to dump it all and start from scratch. If KD and Westbrook still had 3+ years left on their deals I would feel pretty confident that Presti was pushing for the longer deal but with their future in OKC still in doubt I think it makes Presti's position harder to predict.

[Thunderhead]

I can't believe some are actually trying to explain away Kanter's poor defense. If ya wanna be a homer, then rather than trying to prop up what he's done, it would make more sense to hope that he gets better. There's actually some ground to stand on, taking that course. Which is bout all ya really got to hang your hat on.

[Soonerule]

But you're likely paying him big money for a player that is a serious defensive liability and whose offense skill doesn't really improve your team's offensive efficiency;

This is all BS...........he's never even played with OKC's best player in Durant and Kanter played with an Ibaka who was masking and injury ,two of the big three of OKC's players.Funny how everywhere else it's thought that if Durant is healthy and Kanter is signed that OKC will be seen as a pre season favorite.
Also don't see anyone picking Adams as the starting Center except by the few in this forum.

I see where Kanter and Reggie Jackson were thought of as not getting max money because no one went after them as RFA....look at this

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/238628/Reggie-Jackson-Pistons-Agree-Upon-Five-Year-$80M-Deal

5 yrs at 16 million $$$$'s a year .......Kanter next ?????

Max? Is that you?
Feb 13th
Does Enes feel like he’s getting the proper coaching and development under Quin Snyder? Is he happy with the current staff?
Yes, he does, and I believe that too. I think, I really, you know, and I don’t wanna go into, you know, the areas of, like, you know, critic[iz]ing anyone, or, but I can’t deny the fact the difference between the development part and paying attention to, you know — no, it has been really good. It has been really good. (1280)

https://jazzfanatical.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/enes-kanters-agent-max-ergul-addresses-trade-request-reports/

[Thunderhead]

I think a big issue was Westbrook's "defense" and Roberson's injury. Westbrook was all over the place going for steals, witch left his teammates on an island. Robes was a good enough P&R defender. PnR coverage is a two-way-street - you can't just depend on your big to bail you out, especially if that player's already weak defensively.

I think it will be very interesting , if Donovan continues to start Roberson. Brooks took a ton of heat from fans about starting Roberson and Thabo before him. it became extremely wearisome to hear/read fans complain about starting a non offensive player. I don't know what these fans are gonna say if Donovan starts Roberson. This is one of the things I'm anticipating for the upcoming season.

But I sure would not count on Roberson being on the floor as a way to bail out Kanter's defense.