One day after the DeAndre Jordan saga consumed the Internet, we have more intrigue on the NBA free-agency front — albeit of the more conventional type.
The Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday signed free-agent center Enes Kanter to a four-year, $70 million offer sheet, sources told Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski and NBA.com’s David Aldridge.
Because Kanter is a restricted free agent, his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, will have three days to match Portland’s offer.
The Thunder acquired Kanter, the third overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft, from the Utah Jazz at this year’s trade deadline in a three-team deal involving point guard Reggie Jackson, center Kendrick Perkins and others.
The 23-year-old thrived following the trade, averaging 18.7 points and 11.0 rebounds for an OKC squad that finished tied for eighth in the Western Conference but missed the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker.
Should he end up in Portland, Kanter would bolster a Blazers frontcourt that just lost power forward LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency. Aldridge on Thursday signed with the San Antonio Spurs on a reported four-year, $80 million contract.
Thumbnail photo via Mark D. Smith/USA TODAY Sports Images
