This offseason the big news with the Oklahoma City Thunder was the contract situation of Enes Kanter as he was a restricted free agent. Kanter signed a four year offer sheet with the Portland Trail Blazers worth $70 million and the Thunder had no choice but to match that offer. Kanter is being paid like a star big man but he is not even a lock to start at center as Steven Adams is reportedly still the favorite to be the starter, according to Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman.
Kanter put up some great numbers with the Thunder in 26 games last season as he averaged 18.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game but he is a liability on the defensive side of the ball which is why Adams may win the starting job. No team likes to pay big money to a bench player but at this point it seems like the Thunder's best option. Adams is a plus defender inside and although he doesn't bring much on offense the Thunder don't need it from his as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook should do plenty of scoring for the first unit.
Should Adams get the starting job, Kanter would be a focal point of the second unit's offense along with Dion Waiters and Anthony Morrow. It will be nice for the Thunder to be able to bring a double-double guy off the bench and it will likely be better for Kanter personally as he will be able to get more touches with Westbrook and Durant on the bench.
Adams is currently dealing with a sore back but that is not expected to impact him when the regular season starts. The seven foot New Zealander started 67 games for the Thunder last season and was a force on defense racking up 1.7 blocks per game and 2.2 defensive win shares in 70 games. Regardless of who starts the two centers should see close to equal playing time as Adams only played 25.3 minutes per game last season despite starting the majority of his games.
In order for the Thunder to compete for a championship like they expect to they will likely need big contributions from both of their centers. They both excel where the other falters so starting Adams for defense while bringing Kanter off the bench for offense seems like a sound strategy. This is not set in stone but if Billy Donovan is uninfluenced by salaries this will likely be the way he goes.
