Thunder match Portland’s offer sheet, will keep center Enes Kanter

The Oklahoma City Thunder took it down to the final day, but there is a report OKC has matched Portland’s offer sheet to center Enes Kanter and will re-sign the four-year pro from Turkey. On Sunday, the Thunder announced they would match the offer sheet and retain Kanter. Enes’ deal includes a player option on the fourth year and a 15 percent trade kicker bonus….

“He adds valuable depth to our roster, diversity to our frontcourt and the dimension that he brings offensively will positively impact our team”, Presti said in a news release.

The re-signing of Kanter means the Thunder will be over the salary cap for next season and will have to pay a luxury tax. Augustin, Perry Jones III and Steve Novak, without taking any salary back, their tax bill would be down to about $7.7 million. Kanter is now the 6th-highest paid center in the league.

If you consider post scoring to be vital to Oklahoma City’s success, for some reason, then the deal is fine, Kanter’s young, has upside, could theoretically improve defensively and they surrendered assets for him. Since free agency began on July 1, the team has been scrambling to stockpile big men – Noah Vonleh, Mason Plumlee and Ed Davis, to along with Meyers Leonard and Chris Kaman – in an admirable but shortsighted effort to bolster their diminished front-court situation after losing both LaMarcus Aldridge and Robin Lopez. However, he only played 10 games with Serge Ibaka and none with Kevin Durant because of injuries. Kanter was the third-overall pick out of Kentucky in the 2011 National Basteball Association Draft, and really came on for the Jazz in the 2013-14 campaign.