http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2781935-knicks-news-enes-kanter-seeks-long-term-contract-to-feel-more-secure

Knicks News: Enes Kanter Seeks Long-Term Contract to 'Feel More Secure'
ALEC NATHAN
JUNE 19, 2018

MIAMI, FL - MARCH 21: Enes Kanter #00 of the New York Knicks handles the ball during the game against the Miami Heat on March 21, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

New York Knicks center Enes Kanter can earn $18.6 million by exercising his player option for the 2018-19 season, but he told ESPN.com's Ian Begley that he's angling for long-term security with the start of free agency less than two weeks away.

"Obviously, I want to be here. It's just that I would feel better and feel more secure and feel more comfortable if I signed [a contract for] multiple, two or three whatever, years," Kanter told Begley on Saturday. "Think about it. Next year, if you get hurt, then what? I know you can't worry about it, but it's always in the back of your head like, 'Man, if I get hurt, what's going to happen?'"

Kanter hasn't revealed a decision—he has until June 29 to do so—but he has hinted that he'd like to opt out and re-sign with the Knicks as an unrestricted free agent.

"I didn't make any decisions in or out," Kanter told reporters in April. "When I say I want to make New York my home, there's no lie. I want to stay here long-term.

"I don't want to stay here one year and make a decision later. I want to stay here for long term. That's the decision with my agent. I told everybody I want to retire as a Knick. I understand it's a business, but I told everybody I want to make New York my home."

The Oklahoma City Thunder traded Kanter to the Knicks last September. He averaged 14.1 points and 11.0 rebounds while shooting 59.2 percent from the field across 71 starts in his first year in the Big Apple.

GustavBahler wrote:

martin wrote:Kanter, go for it, opt out

Kanter's father just got 14 years for opposing the Turkish president. Cant blame him for wanting to be in NY as a place to work, live. And a good place to stay in touch with diplomats, among others, who might be able to intervene on his Dad's behalf.

I hope Enes cant work out a deal that doesnt put a hurt on the cap, but enough for Kanter to feel like he wasnt short changed.

Read the small article on it, surprised there wasn't a thread posted on it. If so I missed it. I don't even know how he can concentrate on anything bball with his father getting locked up like that. Wonder if he can offer some type of cash compensation and an agreement to never speak on the government again, get his family out of Turkey and live in peace.

With that said, I don't believe he is retained if the opts out. Knicks are looking to preserve space for 2019-2020. I don't think they offer any commitments entering those years until the dust settles on that unless a bonafide superstar.

TripleThreat wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:I hope Enes cant work out a deal that doesnt put a hurt on the cap, but enough for Kanter to feel like he wasnt short changed.

Kanter, like many NBA players, has had ample opportunity to learn/develop a league average three point shot.

It's a skill set that can be developed over time. Not just the Jason Kidds and Chris Bosh types, but also the Spencer Hawes types.

What is not common knowledge is that, on the NFL side of sports, Peyton Manning was never a high IQ football player. While that seems like a strange thing to say, he ran a very small number of plays with variations over and over again. His level of pregame preparation was however unrivaled. His film study was unrivaled.

Kanter is not a high IQ player. He's a lousy defender. However he could be much better at calling/running the defense from the pivot with just pure attrition. Just dogged relentless work. Chuck Hayes is a classic example of a guy who just never stopped working despite his limitations.

Kanter wanted a better/longer/faster contract? Then he should have worked harder. It's that simple.

He wants someone to "give" him a new contract extension. No one gives you jack **** in this life. You go out and you take it. That's the kind of mentality you need in the pivot. He's such a great rebounder! He plays with such energy! No, he's a soft ass mother****er. You want Patrick Beverley types. Guys you would need to shoot in the face to stop. Once Beverley is committed against you, you are not stopping him. You are going to have to gun him down to stop him. Relentless.

Kanter just doesn't want it bad enough. That's true for most people in life.

I get your point but, this league isn't made up of perfect players, every player has his flaws.

The idea is to get complementary players to off set what the other player lacks. The good news about Kanter is he has been working at shooting threes, and if Marc Gasol can go from taking four 3 point attempts in a season, to 200 the next, im sure Kanter can do the same.

With that being said, I'm not giving him no contract this summer, his options are limited, and im not going on one decent season to invest a chunk of money in him. There's no way in giving a center who hasn't proven he can stretch the floor no 20+ mill per..

How do we even know if he will fit Fiz system

What Fizz should be doing is telling him what to do to improve his D. whether it's working on lateral quickness, watch video whatever.

GustavBahler wrote:

martin wrote:With the league glaringly going towards bigs that shoot 3s or space, Kanter has made an obvious choice NOT to. He used to shoot from deeper range but did not with the Knicks. Stupid.

Stupid is ignoring all Kanter brought to the table last season, got into the best shape of his career in the offseason, and put up solid numbers. Played through one serious injury after another, was a team player.

But sure lets call him 'stupid", because he was "only" elite as a rebounder, post player. We dont deserve decent players with garbage posts like this.

You and I went through this before. Name 1 game that Kanter had an impact on. A winning game would be nice but not necessary.

You kept ignoring my question. Repeatedly.

I named at least 1, a Miami game where he dominated the Heat with both KP out and Whiteside out, late Nov.

Any others?

Empty stats just dont do it for me. Move the team towards a win or for an ACTUAL win, those are the types of players I want on the team.

Kanter is a bench player you acquire AFTER the starters are in place and your salary situation is in tact. He'd be good at below $10M once your first 5 are there. Knicks are not in a position to offer him a contract that he is looking for.

SupremeCommander wrote:

martin wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

martin wrote:With the league glaringly going towards bigs that shoot 3s or space, Kanter has made an obvious choice NOT to. He used to shoot from deeper range but did not with the Knicks. Stupid.

Stupid is ignoring all Kanter brought to the table last season, got into the best shape of his career in the offseason, and put up solid numbers. Played through one serious injury after another, was a team player.

But sure lets call him 'stupid", because he was "only" elite as a rebounder, post player. We dont deserve decent players with garbage posts like this.

You and I went through this before. Name 1 game that Kanter had an impact on. A winning game would be nice but not necessary.

You kept ignoring my question. Repeatedly.

I named at least 1, a Miami game where he dominated the Heat with both KP out and Whiteside out, late Nov.

Any others?

Empty stats just dont do it for me. Move the team towards a win or for an ACTUAL win, those are the types of players I want on the team.

Kanter is a bench player you acquire AFTER the starters are in place and your salary situation is in tact. He'd be good at below $10M once your first 5 are there. Knicks are not in a position to offer him a contract that he is looking for.

Kanter was our best player last year. I would have said keep him e end of the year. But with some distance... I would let him walk. I think he's an outdated model at this point. Howard and Mozgov just got traded because their games are ill-suited for the modern NBA. I feel the same way about Kanter. He doesn't do enough on the outside, he doesn't run well, and he doesn't defend. He's a great offensive rebounder but I would like for him to do more on the defensive glass

lol best at what? Not playing much in the 4th quarter? Empty stat collection?

Same question to you: What games did his play really impact games?

There were a couple games where THJr and even Beas took over and it lead to a win, carried the team for stretches of games. I'm still racking my brain as to what Kanter did for the team?

His padded stats are nice. For half a game? Both in terms of offense/defense and minutes played?

What does Kanter bring to the team?

SupremeCommander wrote:

martin wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:

martin wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

martin wrote:With the league glaringly going towards bigs that shoot 3s or space, Kanter has made an obvious choice NOT to. He used to shoot from deeper range but did not with the Knicks. Stupid.

Stupid is ignoring all Kanter brought to the table last season, got into the best shape of his career in the offseason, and put up solid numbers. Played through one serious injury after another, was a team player.

But sure lets call him 'stupid", because he was "only" elite as a rebounder, post player. We dont deserve decent players with garbage posts like this.

You and I went through this before. Name 1 game that Kanter had an impact on. A winning game would be nice but not necessary.

You kept ignoring my question. Repeatedly.

I named at least 1, a Miami game where he dominated the Heat with both KP out and Whiteside out, late Nov.

Any others?

Empty stats just dont do it for me. Move the team towards a win or for an ACTUAL win, those are the types of players I want on the team.

Kanter is a bench player you acquire AFTER the starters are in place and your salary situation is in tact. He'd be good at below $10M once your first 5 are there. Knicks are not in a position to offer him a contract that he is looking for.

Kanter was our best player last year. I would have said keep him e end of the year. But with some distance... I would let him walk. I think he's an outdated model at this point. Howard and Mozgov just got traded because their games are ill-suited for the modern NBA. I feel the same way about Kanter. He doesn't do enough on the outside, he doesn't run well, and he doesn't defend. He's a great offensive rebounder but I would like for him to do more on the defensive glass

lol best at what? Not playing much in the 4th quarter? Empty stat collection?

Same question to you: What games did his play really impact games?

There were a couple games where THJr and even Beas took over and it lead to a win, carried the team for stretches of games. I'm still racking my brain as to what Kanter did for the team?

His padded stats are nice. For half a game? Both in terms of offense/defense and minutes played?

What does Kanter bring to the team?

lol at you lol'ing at me...

I'm essentially agreeing with you and you really want to split hairs over a 29 win team?

The first thing I remember about Kanter is his Christmas Day performance. The first thing I think about THJ is that Giannis jumped over Timmy and dunked. The thing I remember about Beas is that he has no value unless he's featured on a team that ultimately sucked big fat donkey dong without KP.

Yes Christmas game! Finally a game he impacted and was able to stay in for more than 24 minutes.

martin wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

martin wrote:With the league glaringly going towards bigs that shoot 3s or space, Kanter has made an obvious choice NOT to. He used to shoot from deeper range but did not with the Knicks. Stupid.

Stupid is ignoring all Kanter brought to the table last season, got into the best shape of his career in the offseason, and put up solid numbers. Played through one serious injury after another, was a team player.

But sure lets call him 'stupid", because he was "only" elite as a rebounder, post player. We dont deserve decent players with garbage posts like this.

You and I went through this before. Name 1 game that Kanter had an impact on. A winning game would be nice but not necessary.

You kept ignoring my question. Repeatedly.

I named at least 1, a Miami game where he dominated the Heat with both KP out and Whiteside out, late Nov.

Any others?

Empty stats just dont do it for me. Move the team towards a win or for an ACTUAL win, those are the types of players I want on the team.

Kanter is a bench player you acquire AFTER the starters are in place and your salary situation is in tact. He'd be good at below $10M once your first 5 are there. Knicks are not in a position to offer him a contract that he is looking for.

Yes we did. You mostly dissing a player who gave maximum effort, missed few games in spite of serious injuries. On a team where his contribution should be weighed against what his teammates brought to the table.

Dont have a problem with you not wanting Kanter back. Its talking about a player who earned his paycheck, like he was some back of the bench scrub.

The things you expect of Kanter would make him one of the ten best players in the league, when you factor his skill set. His contribution on crappy roster as well. "Stupid" for not being that good? You could say that of any player, but you dont.

GustavBahler wrote:

martin wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

martin wrote:With the league glaringly going towards bigs that shoot 3s or space, Kanter has made an obvious choice NOT to. He used to shoot from deeper range but did not with the Knicks. Stupid.

Stupid is ignoring all Kanter brought to the table last season, got into the best shape of his career in the offseason, and put up solid numbers. Played through one serious injury after another, was a team player.

But sure lets call him 'stupid", because he was "only" elite as a rebounder, post player. We dont deserve decent players with garbage posts like this.

You and I went through this before. Name 1 game that Kanter had an impact on. A winning game would be nice but not necessary.

You kept ignoring my question. Repeatedly.

I named at least 1, a Miami game where he dominated the Heat with both KP out and Whiteside out, late Nov.

Any others?

Empty stats just dont do it for me. Move the team towards a win or for an ACTUAL win, those are the types of players I want on the team.

Kanter is a bench player you acquire AFTER the starters are in place and your salary situation is in tact. He'd be good at below $10M once your first 5 are there. Knicks are not in a position to offer him a contract that he is looking for.

Yes we did. You mostly dissing a player who gave maximum effort, missed few games in spite of serious injuries. On a team where his contribution should be weighed against what his teammates brought to the table.

Dont have a problem with you not wanting Kanter back. Its talking about a player who earned his paycheck, like he was some back of the bench scrub.

The things you expect of Kanter would make him one of the ten best players in the league, when you factor his skill set. His contribution on crappy roster as well. "Stupid" for not being that good? You could say that of any player, but you dont.

Stupid for turning down shots he has taken in the past. Stupid for not developing the shot that the whole league KNOWS bigs need to have to be sucessful in the league. Stupid for not learning defense at all. Dude just completed his 7th season in the league.

Personally, Kanter is a great guy. Great teammate, humanitarian, sticks up for guys like Frank, works with kids. All of those things are AWESOME.

On the court Kanter is worthy of about a < $10M contract off the bench. I want the Knicks to be a playoff team

Let me know when you can come up with some games that Kanter has had an impact on, otherwise you are avoiding core issue.