Surely there’s no way Enes Kanter declines his $18.6 million player option for next season and becomes a free agency this summer.
Right?
Most still consider the New York Knicks’ big man a lock to opt in. He isn’t getting that kind of money per year in this year’s market. The league is still recovering from the spending spree of 2016 and remains oversaturated with centers. The need for behemoths who don’t shoot threes or switch onto wings at the other end is particularly low. It could take someone like Kanter more than two years to recoup the full $18.6 million he’s owed next year.
On the flip side, Kanter will only be 26 when he enters free agency. Some team might be willing to shell out modest money over the long term—something like three years and $40 million or four years and $48 million. That extra $30 million in guaranteed money could be enough for him to hit the opt out button.
As of now, though, he’s yet to decide. In fact, he just hired a new agent to help him make a choice, per the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
This doesn’t mean Knicks center Enes Kanter is opting out, but he’s ready to sign with a new agent — the highly regarded Mark Bartelstein, who runs Priority Sports, according to an industry source.
Kanter, who has one year left on his contract worth $18.6 million, is expected to sign with Bartelstein this week, the source said.
Kanter said recently he was seeking a new agent to help him with his decision, but won’t evaluate his situation until after the season because it would cheat his teammates.
Honestly, if Kanter opts out, it’ll feel like a Pau Gasol-San Antonio Spurs situation from last summer, when there seemed to be an agreement in place before the fact. Kanter is younger, so he doesn’t need to play that game, but the Knicks are also at a loss for major cap space. They can scrimp together around $13 million if they stretch Joakim Noah and Kyle O’Quinn opts out of his deal. That number goes up if they can diminish Kanter’s per-year hold.
Going that route would be incredibly short-shifted. But hey! These are the Knicks. So you never know.
