New York Knicks: Knicks should move on from Enes Kanter at trade deadline
Enes Kanter is headed into his final year under contract in 2018-19, with this being said, it makes sense for the New York Knicks to trade the center when the trade deadline comes around in February.
With the New York Knicks building up a young team in Kristaps Porzingis‘ absence, it seems like the logical thing to do at the moment would be get more picks for the future as well as younger players in the league now, right?
If that is the case, the Knicks should take a look at possibly trading Enes Kanter when the 2018-19 trade deadline comes around.
If the Knicks do end up trading Kanter, it would be due to his play not because they fear they cannot sign him back come the offseason.
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Kanter is one of the worst defensive centers in the NBA and it doesn’t help that he can’t shoot to save his life.
This, plus the fact that the Knicks are going through a semi-rebuild, makes it seem as if trading Kanter is the right move.
With Porzingis out for a majority of the 2018-19 season and potentially the entire year, the Knicks must make a move towards the 2019 NBA Draft.
Without Porzingis, the Knicks have next to no chance of making the playoffs, even in the lackluster Eastern Conference.
The projected starting five for opening night looks something like this:
- PG: Trey Burke
- SG: Tim Hardaway jr.
- SF: Courtney Lee
- PF: Mario Hezonja
- C: Enes Kanter
I don’t know about you, but to me, this doesn’t look like a team that can win many games.
So, if you’re not winning anyway why would you stick with the same thing?
If the Knicks are towards the bottom of the league come the trade deadline in February, they should take a serious look at trading Kanter in an attempt to building up their draft status.
Kanter, while he may not be great, is someone who could be the difference between making the playoffs and not for some teams. Kanter might not be very good at shooting or playing defense but those are both things that could be improved upon with the right coach.
Now, we might see some improvement with new Knicks coach David Fizdale, but for the Knicks they won’t be getting much out of it because of who they have around him.
Next. Aaaron Boone is doing a wondeful job. dark
Trading Kanter would open up the door for the Knicks to draft some players who can make a serious impact down the road. Especially ahead of the stacked 2019 NBA Draft Class.