11:02 am | February 7, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
The New York Knicks are releasing center Enes Kanter, a league source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday.
The Knicks had talked to teams about potential trades for the past several weeks, but Kanter’s $18.6 million expiring contract proved too difficult to move at Thursday’s deadline.
Kanter, 26, has appeared in just three of the Knicks’ past 12 games and has been vocal about his displeasure over his reduced role.
Coach David Fizdale has prioritized playing and developing younger players in recent weeks. DeAndre Jordan has started ahead of Kanter, and Fizdale said he wanted Jordan to help younger players Luke Kornet and Mitchell Robinson learn how to defend.
Kanter has averaged 14 points and 10.5 rebounds — tied for 12th in the league — in 25.6 minutes per game this season, but he ranked last out of 68 qualified centers in ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus metric. He is tied for third in the NBA in offensive rebounding (3.9 per game) since the start of the 2017-18 season.
The Knicks (10-43) acquired Kanter in a 2017 trade that sent Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
ESPN’s Ian Begley contributed to this report.
Powered by WPeMatico