- The “can’t play [Enes] Kanter” narrative is not entirely true, writes Erik Horne of NewsOK.com. Kanter provides value for the Thunder, particularly during the regular season, according to Horne, who notes that the big man can thrive in specific matchups and roles.
The Suns potentially have a difficult decision to make when they find themselves on the clock with the fourth overall pick, writes Doug Haller of AZCentral Sports. Three talented freshman small forwards could be available: Josh Jackson, Jonathan Isaac, and Jayson Tatum. Defense and three-point shooting are likely the Suns’ two most glaring weaknesses, and one of these athletes could certainly help.
Haller writes that Jackson’s real impact could come defensively. The scribe adds that, while Tatum is nowhere near the defender that Jackson is, the Duke freshman may be the most polished scorer in the draft. As for Isaac, he can play both forward positions, with many believing that he will also be able to man the center position when his body fills out. Furthermore, the departing Seminole would contribute defensive versatility, having defended all over the floor for Florida State.
Here are some more pertinent notes from the Pacific division:
- On Tuesday, the Suns were set to host two pre-draft workouts, per the club’s official Twitter page. The announced participants were Zak Irvin, Wesley Iwundu, Luke Kornet, Kennedy Meeks, Semi Ojeleye, Devin Robinson, and Jarrett Allen.
- The Kings will hold two pre-draft workouts on Wednesday, reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. The first group is full of big names: Justin Jackson, Jordan Bell, Frank Mason, Kyle Kuzma, London Perrantes, and Devin Robinson. Jones points out that, prior to last year’s draft, the Kings convinced just once first-round pick to visit the team, even though Sacramento held the eighth overall selection. To find out which players are part of the second group that is working out for the Kings on Wednesday, check out Jones’ full story.
- Ivan Rabb does not regret returning for his sophomore season at Cal despite falling from a likely lottery pick in the last draft to an expected low first-round selection this time around, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. On the contrary, Rabb believes that staying in school an additional season will help him at the next level. Rabb was one of six players to work out for the Lakers on Tuesday. The others were Jaron Blossomgame, Sterling Brown, Tyler Dorsey, Cameron Oliver, and Xavier Rathan-Mayes.
- Klay Thompson‘s historic Game 6 against the Thunder in the 2016 Western Conference Finals had a transformative effect on basketball history, chronicles Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury News. Although Thompson’s performance that night did not lead to a second-straight Warriors championship, without it, Kevin Durant very well may not have joined Golden State during the ensuing offseason.
- Blake Griffin joining the Thunder isn’t a likely scenario due to the team’s financials, Schwartz contends in the same piece. Oklahoma City handed out massive extensions to Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo last fall and those deals will kick in this summer. Schwartz added that a sign-and-trade would represent the best way for OKC to acquire a top talent like Griffin.
The Thunder will have trouble adding talent around Russell Westbrook this summer, as I discussed in our Five Key Offseason Questions piece on the team. The front office dished out lucrative deals to several contributors over the last two seasons and it left the team without much financial flexibility. If Oklahoma City hopes to make it further than the first round of the playoffs next season, the team will need some of its young talent to make significant improvements.
Here’s more from Oklahoma City:
- Jerami Grant has worked with the Thunder on many aspects of his game since the season ended, as he tells Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. “I think they’re doing a great job here of getting me stronger in certain areas. I think they’re specific to what we want to do with my body. And on the court, being able to read the defense, slow my game down a little bit, not moving 100 miles an hour,” Grant said. His contract with OKC contains a team option worth slightly over $1.52MM for next season and it appears that the team will opt to keep him around.
- Doug McDermott, who was traded to the Thunder at this year’s deadline, said he’d “love to be” in OKC long-term, Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman writes. McDermott has one year left on his rookie deal and he’ll be eligible to sign an extension with the franchise this offseason.
- GM Sam Presti is preparing this offseason as if McDermott will play more minutes at the four spot, Dawson adds in the same piece. “[McDermott] has the versatility to play a little [power forward] for us,” Presti said.
Enes Kanter‘s current situation with Turkey makes the Thunder center a problematic asset to trade, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman writes. Kanter returned to the United States earlier this week after he was detained in Romania following the revocation of his passport by his native country.
This is all part of Tramel’s point: Kanter — while not ideal for today’s style of play — is still a capable player who can help a team but his political issues make him a potential liability. The 6’11”, 245-pound Kanter posted serviceable totals of 14.3 PPG and 6.7 RPG in 72 games on a Thunder team that was led by possible 2016/17 NBA MVP Russell Westbrook.
- Also from The Oklahoman, Brett Dawson examines the Thunder’s options as the NBA Draft approaches next month. Oklahoma City owns the No.21 overall pick in a deep draft class but will have several options; with Westbrook on board, Dawson says one direction team could go in is acquiring a talented veteran to pair with the Thunder superstar.
The Clippers view San Antonio as a serious threat to sign Chris Paul this summer, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. “Mutual interest” between Paul and the Spurs was suggested earlier this week by ESPN’s Zach Lowe, and L.A. officials see that as a concern despite San Antonio’s lack of cap space. Paul is expected to use an early-termination option and hit the free agent market. He is eligible for a five-year deal worth about $205MM from the Clippers and four years at roughly $152MM from anyone else. The Spurs only have about $10MM in cap room right now, with Dewayne Dedmon ($3MM) and David Lee ($1.6MM) both owning player options.
There’s more today from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers are finalizing a deal to add Miles Simon to their coaching staff, tweets Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times. He will replace Theo Robertson, who left this week to become an assistant at the University of California. The Most Outstanding Player in the 1997 NCAA Tournament, Simon played just five NBA games, all with Orlando. He spent three years as an assistant coach at Arizona and is currently a college basketball analyst for ESPN.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar may be the next Lakers legend to get a role with the team, according to Mark Medina of The Orange County Register. Abdul-Jabbar says he has been invited to meet with president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and controlling owner Jeanie Buss to discuss a position in the organization. He added that he would like to serve as a mentor to second-year center Ivica Zubac and help him develop his hook shot. “He’s equipped to use it well,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “He has the length to begin with. If he can develop his shooting touch and agility, he’ll use it well.”
- As the NBA Finals approach, Warriors star Kevin Durant is “at peace” with his decision to leave Oklahoma City, relays Sam Amick of USA Today. He bristles at suggestions that his move is behind the lack of parity in the NBA. “Like I’m the reason why Orlando couldn’t make the playoffs for five, six years in a row?” he said. “Am I the reason that Brooklyn gave all their picks to Boston? Like, am I the reason that they’re not that good. I can’t play for every team, so the truth of the matter is I left one team. It’s one more team that you probably would’ve thought would’ve been a contender. One more team. I couldn’t have made the (entire) East better. I couldn’t have made everybody [else] in the West better.”
Thunder center Enes Kanter endured a scary situation over the weekend as he was detained in a Romanian airport after his passport was canceled by Turkey. Kanter has been outspoken against Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has resulted in his family disowning him and swarms of death threats.
Youngmisuk detailed that Kanter’s journey from detainment in Romania to return to the United States required efforts from Homeland Security, Thunder lawyers, Kanter’s lawyers, the NBA and the NBAPA, and Oklahoma Senators Jim Inhofe and James Lankford. Now, Kanter’s sights are set on the 2017/18 NBA season, speeding up the process for his citizenship, and staying out of harms way under the Erdogan regime.
3:09 pm: Enes Kanter provided an update to the situation (link via Twitter), indicating that he will hold a press conference tomorrow in New York City with “crazy stories” about what transpired.
2:30 pm: Enes Kanter has landed in London and he and his representatives are now figuring out the next steps, reports Royce Young of ESPN (link via Twitter). Young also reports that NBA sources say that the league helped facilitate getting Kanter to London.
1:24 pm: Romanian border police say that Enes Kanter has been released from custody and permitted to continue his travels, according to Benjamin Hoffman of The New York Times. The official said that Kanter is now on a plane headed for London. Kanter himself has yet to confirm that he has been released.
11:18 am: Thunder center Enes Kanter is celebrating his 25th birthday being detained in Romania after the Turkish embassy canceled his passport on Saturday morning, he said in a Twitter video.
Kanter, who has been an outspoken critic of Turkey’s regime, claimed that the decision to void his passport was politically motivated.
“The reason behind it is just, of course, my political views,” Kanter said in the video. “And the guy who did it is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey.”
Kanter is currently in the midst of the Enes Kanter Light Foundation tour, which, in addition to Romania, included a visit to Indonesia. Kanter’s website states that the foundation’s objective is to create awareness and provide help to children “education, poverty alleviation and social harmony.” That positive message is the antithesis of Kanter’s view of president Erdogan.
“He’s attacked people in Washington. He’s a bad, bad man,” Kanter added. “He is a dictator, and he’s the Hitler of our century.”
Kanter dealt with issues stemming from his political views last year, when his family severed ties with him. Kanter’s father, Mehment, published a letter through Turkish media disowning his son.
“With a feeling of shame I apologize to our president and the Turkish people for having such a son,” the letter said (via Reuters).
In his own letter published on Twitter, Kanter addressed his family’s decision; a large part of their decisions stemmed from Kanter’s support of Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic leader and the face of the “Gulen Movement.”
“Today I lost my mother, father, brothers and sisters, my family and all my relatives,” Kanter wrote in the letter, which was translated to English. “My own father asked me to change my surname. My mother, who has given me life, disowned me. My brothers and sisters, with which we have grown together, ignore me.”
According to ESPN, the Thunder are going through the proper channels to resolve the situation. Kanter posted totals of 14.3 PPG and 6.7 APG in 72 games for Oklahoma City last season.
- The Thunder will look to extend point guard Russell Westbrook‘s contract this summer and can do so with the Designated Veteran Player Extension. Per Bobby Marks of the Vertical, even though Westbrook renegotiated his existing contract prior to the new CBA, he’s been deemed eligible by the league to ink a five-year deal worth as much as $207MM this summer.
- Veteran Nick Collison isn’t finished playing in the NBA and will look to come to terms with the Thunder for 2017/18, Fred Katz of the Norman Transcript writes. Despite the big man’s loyalty to the franchise that drafted him 2003, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be back with Oklahoma City if another organization offers a more appealing role.
The NBA has officially announced its All-NBA teams for the 2016/17 season, and neither Paul George nor Gordon Hayward is among the 15 players honored. That’s big news for both players and their teams, since they’ll be ineligible for the Designated Veteran Extension, reducing the amount of money the Pacers and Jazz – respectively – could offer their star forwards in contract extensions this offseason.
Here are this year’s All-NBA teams:
All-NBA First Team
- Guard: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
- Guard: James Harden (Rockets)
- Forward: LeBron James (Cavaliers)
- Forward: Kawhi Leonard (Spurs)
- Center: Anthony Davis (Pelicans)
All-NBA Second Team
- Guard: Stephen Curry (Warriors)
- Guard: Isaiah Thomas (Celtics)
- Forward: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Forward: Kevin Durant (Warriors)
- Center: Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
All-NBA Third Team
- Guard: John Wall (Wizards)
- Guard: DeMar DeRozan (Raptors)
- Forward: Jimmy Butler (Bulls)
- Forward: Draymond Green (Warriors)
- Center: DeAndre Jordan (Clippers)
Based on this year’s All-NBA voting results, Wall is now eligible to sign a Designated Veteran Extension this summer, while Leonard is eligible to sign one next summer. Harden, Westbrook, and Curry are also eligible to sign DVEs this summer, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical notes (via Twitter).
Those Designated Veteran Extensions – which are dependent on a player making an All-NBA team in the year before he signs an extension, or in two of the previous three years – apply to players finishing up their rookie scale extensions. They allow a player re-signing with his own team to earn up to 35% of the salary cap, rather than just 30%. So, if we assume a $101MM salary cap for 2017/18, a player like Curry could sign a new Warriors contract with a starting salary of $35.35MM, instead of $30.3MM.
The Pacers and Jazz will still be able to offer George and Hayward larger and longer contracts than any other team, but the advantage won’t be as significant as it would have been if those players had earned All-NBA spots. Teams can offer their own Bird-rights free agents up to five years (instead of four) and 8% raises (instead of 5%).
Hayward figures to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer, while George is expected to reach free agency in 2018. George could still become eligible for the DVE in ’18 if the Pacers hang onto him through next season and he earns All-NBA honors a year from now. However, there’s no guarantee that Indiana will be willing to take that risk.
As for the rest of the All-NBA votes, there weren’t any major surprises, particularly on the first two teams. Perhaps the biggest surprise, in a year which was dominated by four clear-cut MVP candidates, is that Harden was the only player who received 100 out of 100 possible First Team votes. Westbrook and James received 99 apiece, while Leonard received 96.
Note: Hoops Rumors readers voted last month on All-NBA teams, and our squads looked awfully close to the official ones, with a couple notable exceptions. You can check out the results of our voting right here.