Post Play
Kanter is well known for his post play. Many critics are skeptical that Kanter can still be effective in today’s NBA due to his throwback style of play which centers around his post game.
Sure, post play is not a common staple of modern NBA offensives, but Kanter is so good at playing in the post that you have to run those sets for him. Kanter is shooting 48.1% on post-ups, which is comparable to Nikola Jokic (49%), Joel Embiid (48%), and LaMarcus Aldridge (48%).
Kanter will also instantly become the Blazers leader in assists out of the post and is capable of making the occasional play for his teammates inside. He even had 7 assists against the Chicago Bulls on November 5th.
In the era of small ball, many teams are deploying shooting guards and small forwards at the power forward position and centers are being trained to slim down and play on the perimeter. Pundits have been quick to point out the mismatches that small ball big men create, but there is a flip side to that coin. These “bigs” are not as effective against traditional, post up big men. If Stotts carefully analyzes each matchup, Kanter could become a mismatch for stretches off the bench.