Tag: enes kanter

Rockets trade Daniel Theis to Celtics for Dennis Schroder, Bruno Fernando and Enes Freedom

The Houston Rockets have traded center Daniel Theis to Boston in exchange for guard Dennis Schröder, center Bruno Fernando and center Enes Freedom.

In a related move, the Rockets have waived guards D.J. Augustin and Armoni Brooks.

Schröder (6-3, 172) was the 17th overall pick by Atlanta in the 2013 NBA Draft and is in his ninth season. For his career, Schröder has appeared in 606 games with 263 starts while averaging 14.3 point, 4.7 assists, and 2.9 rebounds, including 17.0 ppg and 5.2 apg dating back to 2016-17. Schröder was runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year award while playing for Oklahoma City in 2019-20.

Fernando (6-9, 240) was the 34th overall pick by Philadelphia in the 2019 NBA Draft before his rights were acquired by the Hawks. In three seasons, Fernando has appeared in 109 games with 13 starts while averaging 2.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 9.1 minutes per game. The 23-year-old averaged 10.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.4 apg and 1.3 bpg while assigned to the G League this season.

Freedom (6-10, 250) was the third overall pick by Utah in the 2011 NBA Draft and is in his 11th season. In 748 career games with 259 starts, he is averaging 11.2 ppg and 7.8 rpg in 21.5 mpg.

Theis, 29, has played in 285 games (141 starts) over five NBA seasons with Boston, Chicago, and Houston, averaging 7.5 points on 54.1% shooting (32.7% 3-PT), 5.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.9 blocked shots, and 19.6 minutes. He has played in 26 games for Houston this season (21 starts), contributing 8.4 points (46.9% FG), and 5.0 rebounds in 22.5 minutes.

Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Celtics in July of 2017, Theis produced 7.2 points on 55.4% shooting (34.5% 3-PT), 4.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.9 blocks, 13 double-doubles, and 18.8 minutes in 236 games (106 starts) over parts of four seasons with the Celtics from 2017-18 to 2020-21. He played a critical role during the Celtics Eastern Conference Finals run in the 2020 NBA Playoffs, averaging 8.9 points (52.1% FG), 7.1 rebounds, 1.2 blocked shots, and 28.4 minutes, while starting each of Boston’s 17 postseason contests.

Augustin was acquired by Houston in March of last season and appeared in a total of 54 games as a Rocket.

Brooks made his NBA debut with the Rockets last April and played in a total of 61 games for Houston.

Enes Kanter will reportedly change his name to Enes Kanter Freedom

NBA player name-changes don’t happen too often. The latest to do so will reportedly be Enes Kanter. Via ESPN.com:

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter is changing his name to Enes Kanter Freedom.

The decision comes ahead of the Turkish-born Kanter becoming a United States citizen on Monday. His agent told The Associated Press that Kanter will make his name change official after completing the citizenship process.

Boston Celtics sign Enes Kanter

The Boston Celtics have signed 10-year NBA center Enes Kanter.

“Enes has a unique ability to both score and rebound. Beyond his on-court contributions, he is a great teammate. We are thrilled he chose to return to Boston,” said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens.”

Kanter, 29, returns to Boston after averaging 11.2 points (60.4% FG, 77.4% FT), 11.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 24.4 minutes with Portland in 2020-21. He was the only player in the NBA to average at least 11.0 points and 11.0 rebounds while playing in all 72 games last season.

A member of the Celtics 2019-20 roster, Kanter produced 8.1 points (57.2% FG), 7.4 rebounds, and 16.9 minutes in 58 games (seven starts) during his lone season in Boston. He tallied nine double-doubles and reached the 20-point mark twice, including a season-high 22-point performance (10-13 FG) against New Orleans on Jan. 11, 2020.

Originally selected by Utah with the third overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Kanter has averaged 11.5 points (54.8% FG, 77.6% FT), 7.9 rebounds, and 22.0 minutes in 713 career games (258 starts) with Utah, Oklahoma City, New York, Boston, and Portland. He has averaged double-digit scoring in seven of his last eight seasons.

Three-team NBA trade sends Enes Kanter to Trail Blazers, Mario Hezonja to Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies today announced that the team acquired the 2020 draft rights to Texas Christian University guard Desmond Bane (No. 30 overall, first round) from the Boston Celtics and forward Mario Hezonja (HEH-zone-yuh) from the Portland Trail Blazers in a three-team trade.

As part of the deal, Memphis traded two future second round draft picks to Boston and cash considerations to Portland, and the Celtics traded center Enes Kanter to the Trail Blazers.

As part of the transaction, the Celtics will receive the better draft pick between Houston’s second round selection in 2023, and whichever 2023 second round draft pick is worst between Memphis or Dallas. Boston will also receive Memphis’s own 2025 second round draft pick.

Kanter, a nine-year NBA veteran, played for the Celtics during the 2019-20 season after joining the team as a free agent last summer. In 58 games (seven starts) for Boston, he averaged 8.1 points (57.2% FG, 70.7% FT), 7.4 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 16.9 minutes.

It is a return to Portland for Kanter, 28, who was signed by the Trail Blazers in February 2019 and was a part of the team’s run to the 2019 Western Conference Finals. In 23 games (eight starts) with the Trail Blazers, Kanter averaged 13.1 points (57.7% FG, 73.5% FT), 8.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists. He averaged 11.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 28.8 minutes in 16 games (14 starts) during Portland’s playoff run.

Originally selected out of Kentucky with the 3rd overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, Kanter holds career averages of 11.6 points (54.3% FG, 77.6% FT) and 7.6 rebounds in 641 games (223 starts) with Utah, Oklahoma City, New York, Boston and Portland.

Bane (6-6, 215) was selected to the 2019-20 All-Big 12 First Team and named a Top 10 finalist for the 2019-20 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award after posting 16.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.47 steals in 36.1 minutes over 32 games (all starts) last season as a senior at TCU. Bane led the Big 12 in 3-pointers made (92) and attempted (208) and 3-point field goal percentage (.442) and averaged a Big 12-high 36.0 minutes in conference games, including six games in which he played at least 40 minutes.

The 22-year-old Richmond, Ind. native appeared in 141 games (114 starts) over during his four-year collegiate career at TCU (2016-20) and averaged 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 30.4 minutes while shooting 49.5 percent from the field, 43.3 percent from 3-point range and 80.4 percent from the free throw line. He left TCU as the Horned Frogs’ all-time leader in 3-pointers (249), wins (84) and games played (141) and ranks third in program history in points (1,784) and fifth in 3-point percentage (.433).

Hezonja (6-8, 220) has appeared in 330 games (69 starts) and has averaged 6.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 18.5 minutes over his five-year NBA career (2015-20) with the Orlando Magic, New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers. The 25-year-old Dubrovnik, Croatia native was selected by Orlando with the fifth overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft.

After NBA career, Enes Kanter could become WWE wrestler

Very few athletes are tough enough to become WWE wrestlers. But NBA players aren’t like most athletes.

TMZ.com reports the following:

Enes Kanter already has a sick retirement plan in place when his NBA career comes to an end … telling TMZ Sports he’s already in talks to join WWE full time!!!

Of course, the Boston Celtics star is no stranger to the squared circle — he VERY briefly held the 24/7 Championship at Monday Night Raw back in September, but then lost it moments later to R-Truth.

Kanter is listed at 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds, which by wrestler standards places him on the lighter side when taking his height into account. But it’s still easy to visualize him as a future wrestler. And almost as importantly, it seems like he’d have a lot of fun and would put his heart into it. So here’s hoping it happens.

But for now, the Celtics center, still just 27 years old, has many NBA years left to play.

Enes Kanter now coming off bench for Knicks

It surprised no one that the Knicks starting lineup changed early in the season. It could happen again. There very well may be season-long changes as new head coach Dave Fizdale figures out what he’s working with on a team that is focused more on the future than the present. Here’s New York Newsday reporting on Knicks center Enes Kanter, who will now contribute scoring and rebounding as a reserve rather than a starter:

After sweating through the hard workout with Wallace loudly urging him on, the real lesson that Kanter seemed to take most to heart is how to avoid saying what’s really on your mind. Like Wallace, who made a game out of answering nearly any question with a refrain of, “Both teams played hard,” during his playing days, Kanter fell back time after time to, “I’m leading the second unit.”

The uncomfortable questions for Kanter and the equally uncomfortable answers he fidgeted through were regarding his role with the Knicks. An accomplished veteran, Kanter has found himself removed from the starting lineup for the time being as the Knicks have fallen to five straight losses and a 1-5 record.

With the season already steering toward the predictable outcome of a rebuilding year, Knicks first-year coach David Fizdale revamped the lineup before Friday’s meeting with the Golden State Warriors, pulling Kanter, Lance Thomas and Trey Burke from the lineup and replacing them with Mitchell Robinson, Damyean Dotson and Noah Vonleh.

“Yeah, he wants me to lead the second unit,” Kanter said, echoing the sentiment he relayed through pursed lips after the game.

— Full article

Enes Kanter urges teammate to fight opponent

NBA players need to show fight on the court in the form of competitive basketball. Not in the form of actual fighting. With that in mind, here’s the New York Daily News reporting on enthusiastic Knicks center Enes Kanter:

Enes Kanter urges teammate to fight opponent

Enes Kanter was warned by the Knicks and may even hear from the league about openly telling a teammate to fight the opponent.

“The front office told me I cannot say stuff like that,” Kanter confessed Tuesday following practice. “It’s a learning process. This is my second language. When I say fight it means compete, play hard, compete. You get a tech; you get a tech. They told me I cannot say stuff like that. I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry NBA, my fault.”

Following Monday’s loss to the Trail Blazers, Kanter said he told an unnamed teammate that he’ll pay his fine if he goes out there and fights with somebody. “It will get the energy up,” he said.

Full article

Enes Kanter brings back-to-basket moves

The Knicks are rebuilding, but they have some talent who plan on winning right now. Not later. Well, they need to wait for the regular season to start. But then they plan on winning. Accuracy matters, people. Anyway, take new addition Enes Kanter, who is happy to discuss his classic big-man moves. Here’s New York Newsday with more:

Enes Kanter brings back-to-basket moves

Enes Kanter considers himself a throwback, a center who can play with his back to the basket and hurt teams with an array of post moves.

Those players are few and far between in the NBA, which is playing smaller and faster. But the Knicks hope to use Kanter’s skills to their advantage, and the Turkish big man believes he has multiple ways he can hurt teams.

“If you look at the NBA right now, you cannot give me three guys that play back to the basket anymore,” Kanter said after practice Thursday. “If you have a back-to-the-basket player and he can play, and he’s got the footwork, it’s over because if they’re going to send a double-team, if you make an extra pass, that’s it.”

Full article

Enes Kanter injured, out after arm surgery

Enes Kanter injured, out after arm surgery

Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter underwent successful surgery today to repair a fractured right ulna (in his right forearm), it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Kanter sustained the injury during last night’s 109-98 victory over Dallas. During a timeout, he expressed his frustration by hitting a chair. The result? A fractured forearm. 

This season, the sixth-year center has recorded 12 double-doubles and is averaging 14.4 points on .563 percent shooting from the floor, 6.7 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 21.6 minutes in 47 games.

Kanter has come off the bench every game this season for OKC, but he’s still one of their most important players. He’s third on the team in both points and rebounds per game. 

He will be re-evaluated in approximately four weeks at which time a further update will be provided.

Enes Kanter punches chair, breaks arm

The OKC Thunder (now 28-19, 6th best record in Western conference) bring center Enes Kanter (zero starts in 47 games this season) off the bench, but he’s still one of the team’s key players. Kanter’s 14.4 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game both rank 3rd on the squad. But a quick showing of frustration will reportedly keep Kanter out of action for the near future. Here’s the Oklahoman:

Enes Kanter punches chair, breaks arm

The Thunder survived January. The same cannot be said of Enes Kanter.

A night of frustration ended in victory for the Thunder, who rode Russell Westbrook’s late flurry to a 109-98 victory over a makeshift Dallas team. But Kanter’s night ended earlier, in the second quarter, when the valuable sixth man suffered a fractured arm when he slammed it on the back of a chair in frustration.

That means the Thunder almost surely goes into February – and remaining January road games at Cleveland and San Antonio – without the scorer and rebounder who makes the Thunder bench bearable at times.