Enes Kanter's Max Contract Is All About Kevin Durant's 2016 NBA Free Agency

Enes Kanter's long-term fate with the Oklahoma City Thunder has been sealed this summer. Kevin Durant's destination in 2016 is far less certain.

General manager Sam Presti's decisions will all have some bearing on his former MVP's future with the organization, and matching the Portland Trail Blazers' four-year, $70 million offer to Kanter is no different.

Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted the news Sunday night:

It's a sizable amount of money for a still emerging center, but it's also an unmistakable gesture to Durant. The Thunder are determined to spend whatever it takes to assure the franchise remains a contender. As Wojnarowski put it after Kanter signed Portland's offer sheet:

"

Oklahoma City will feel immense pressure to show star Kevin Durant a strong commitment to winning in the final year of his contract, and Kanter is an important part of the Thunder's nucleus. The possibility of losing a young player of Kanter's talent for no assets is extremely remote for the Thunder. GM Sam Presti had planned his payroll and roster for the possibility of a maximum offer sheet, sources said.

"

It's a costly move, and it's too soon to assess the returns (especially vis-a-vis Durant). But there's also an undeniable logic to keeping Kanter in the fold, as ESPN.com's Royce Young wrote:

"

A max-level contract is steep for him, but the Thunder aren't offering him that; the Blazers are. It's up to the Thunder to determine if paying that is better than the alternative, which would be losing him entirely. And with them building a high-level contending roster, Kanter is a luxury worth paying for—literally. The Thunder are well over the cap and couldn't add a player anywhere near the caliber of Kanter, but with them holding his Bird rights, they're adding a max player in free agency. That's pretty important for a team that already has Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka.

"

In theory, re-signing Kanter should help ensure those guys stay, too. With OKC's ability to add talent curtailed by cap limitations, losing key assets (and getting nothing in return) really isn't an option for Presti and Co.—even if that means overspending.

Kanter may not be the guy every fan wants, but—for the moment—he's the one they're going to get. 

In fairness, Kanter is a good rebounder and talented low-post scorer, and he has enough of a mid-range game to keep defenders honest. At 6'11" and 245 pounds, there's a lot to like about his already sophisticated offensive skill set. And remember, he's only 23 years old, and his repertoire will continue to improve. There's a lot to like about Kanter's upside, particularly after his small sample of work with the Thunder a season ago.

The Kentucky product tallied 18.7 points and 11.0 rebounds in 26 games for the Thunder last season, nearly five points more than he averaged in 49 games with the Utah Jazz. He enjoyed increased playing time and saw plenty of touches for a team battling multiple injuries (including Durant's). One wonders how productive Kanter will be with a complete and healthy lineup on the floor, but he's shown the ability to be a dynamic complementary scorer if nothing else.

The double-doubles don't hurt, either. 

There are, however, questions about whether this investment will pay off optimally. Keep in mind that Kanter's minutes will come at the expense of playing time for Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams—both of whom are better defenders than Kanter. The four-year veteran may ultimately be better suited to a sixth-man role and generating offense for the second unit, but his price tag seemingly implies a starting job.

Kanter will play an important role for OKC, but how will he factor in Durant's eventual decision? That's the question that burns hottest in the last season of KD's contract.

A Third Scorer

Layne Murdoch/Getty Images

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook may be the best one-two punch in basketball, but they still need help offensively. One candidate to supply that offense—perhaps off the bench—is shooting guard Dion Waiters. He's an ideal sixth-man type and never shies away from taking the shot. 

But Waiters isn't a low-post scorer, and there's something uniquely valuable about a guy who can still play with his back to the basket in this age. Kanter can exploit mismatches, execute the pick-and-roll/pick-and-pop and knock down shots from the top of the key consistently. He made 56.6 percent of his field-goal attempts while playing for OKC last season, a nice bump from his 49.1 percent mark with Utah.

That efficiency—largely attributable to good hands and a soft touch—almost certainly played a role in Kanter's market value. He might have been a go-to scoring threat in Portland's post-LaMarcus Aldridge landscape. 

Only time will tell how he complements a healthy Durant, but the Thunder are betting he's better than the alternative—that he could shoulder some of the scoring burden which has fallen so heavily on Durant and Westbrook historically.

Ibaka has flirted with becoming a consistent third option, but he's not an especially aggressive scorer—not like Kanter. And there may be room for just that in this starting lineup, particularly under new head coach Billy Donovan and his spread pick-and-roll schemes.

Continuity

Glenn James/Getty Images

There's something to be said for building a core and sticking with it, and perhaps that won't be lost on Durant. According to Presti, Kanter wanted to stick around all along.

"Our intention has been to match offers on Enes, and nothing has changed in this regard," Presti told the Oklahoman last week, via ESPN.com's Royce Young. "Enes expressed his desire to be a part of the Thunder in our meeting with him yesterday and we have planned in advance should he receive an offer such as the one that has been reported."

In short, both sides saw this coming. It was Kanter's surest path to getting paid, bypassing potentially lengthy negotiations with the Thunder. No one should mistake Kanter's offer sheet as a sign he wanted out. 

Continuity matters for winning teams, and Oklahoma City has struggled to maintain it over the years—losing James Harden and Reggie Jackson both to financially motivated trades. With Durant's free agency ahead, a willingness to hold on to talent has become all the more important. 

If Oklahoma City believes there's need for change, it can still make a move in advance of February's trade deadline. And with Kanter in the fold, the organization would have more flexibility to deal an asset like Adams. For now, however, the aim is to surround Durant with as much talent as possible and see what happens.

It's a formula that's worked before.

Results

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Kanter and Westbrook got along well, and there's no reason to believe Durant will upset that balance. He'll take some shots away from Kanter, but all three should be able to coexist in theory. So long as touches are well-distributed, this can work.

But the only thing that will keep Durant happy in the end is winning, and there's no guarantee this team returns to its status at the top of the Western Conference. The rest of the West has continued to improve, and it's unclear how much better Kanter actually makes this team. Will his defensive liabilities come back to haunt this deal? Will he grow frustrated about deferring to superstar scorers?

Things could go wrong, to be sure. But this investment was a measured risk for a team that's desperate to keep its franchise player. The season ahead is one last chance to prove this roster has what it takes, and losing talent amid such a test just can't happen.