Trade option #2 – Enes Kanter
Enes Kanter is one of four bigs on the Trail Blazers roster. Though he will be a valuable piece as a backup energy big, if the Blazers are lacking scoring or shot creation, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him moved to reinforce this area.
The current big man depth chart starts with Jusuf Nurkic – who will play all of his minutes at the five, and probably be around 30 – 32 minutes a night.
Backing him up to start the season will be Kanter and Harry Giles. Kanter is a full-time five, and his offensive game and rebounding on both ends will give the Blazers bench some great energy.
Their worry will be how the second unit looks defensively with him playing next to Carmelo Anthony. The Blazers’ starters will have a great defense, but having Melo and Kanter in the two most important defensive positions on the bench may not work.
This is where Giles could be a better fit as the backup five. Giles played significant minutes in the pre-season at this position, and he could play some minutes at the four in some lineups too.
When it will get interesting, is when Zach Collins returns from injury in January. Though he will be on a minutes limit for a while, if he is playing more five than four, it could mean Kanter is surplus to requirements.
Though Collins is slated to play some four this season, the Blazers already have Covington and Melo there.
If Kanter is really struggling to play an acceptable level of defense before the trade deadline, don’t be surprised to see him moved for more creation, or another big man.