Jazz Brass May Be Reluctant To Trade Enes Kanter

Jan 28, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) shoots the ball over Utah Jazz center Enes Kanter (0) during the first quarter at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

You’re going to see many trade proposals and rumors heading up to the NBA 2014-15 trade deadline that’s about three weeks away, on February 19, including some here at PnB and by our authors for parent, Fansided NBA. Howbeit, Utah Jazz brass could be reluctant to trade Enes Kanter for a number of reasons.

That phone will be ringing in Dennis Lindsey’s office — and maybe even above it — with inquiries about the status of Enes Kanter leading up to the trade deadline. And Jazz fans love a good trade deadline, even though they end up disappointed nearly every year.

Ergul, a Turkish ex-patriot, once the understudy of Tolga Tugsavul, had an undisclosed falling out with his mentor, surfacing on the scene of the Kanter family in 2008

Fans and analysts love to fling about trade proposals as if they were clay pigeons, oft times turning a blind eye to the reality of transactions rarely happening within the context of a vacuum, all while wielding a 12-gauge with little discretion. Insert cliché about tangos here.

The reality is, Jazz brass will take every one of those phone calls on behalf of Enes Kanter in regards to a potential new home. And they’ll likely say, “No, thank you.”

Kanter is in the last year of his rookie contract, and failed to reach terms with Utah on an extension before the October 31, 2014 deadline set by the NBA, breaking off talks two days before. The Jazz have said they intend to make Kanter a part of their future for the last three-plus years — indeed, fans and analysts have clamored for Kanter to start next to Derrick Favors, a wish they were granted and quickly fell silent on once it was.

The implication is that Kanter’s camp, represented by agent Max Ergul, wanted more money than the Jazz were willing to part with, meaning the big Turk will play out his final year with Utah to become a restricted free agent at season’s end, barring a trade. Under the current collective bargaining agreement Utah will have the right to match any offer sheet tendered at season’s end once free agency begins.

Kanter's agent, Max Ergul, mentioned Kanter's potential with a new system/coach and the new TV deal as some factors in their decision.
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) October 29, 2014

The question now becomes, how much can Max Ergul get teams to offer his only client?

For his part, Ergul was at one time rumored to have represented fellow Turk, Ersan Ilysova, an affair that became a little messy in 2011 when clarification was offered.

"It’s happened often enough that it no longer comes as a surprise. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t come off as any less indignant this time though.Once again, the NBA Draft is approaching. And once again, Milwaukee appears a less than desirable landing spot for at least one draft prospect.The latest NBA hopeful to avoid Milwaukee is Turkish man of mystery Enes Kanter. After some question about just what teams Kanter did and did not interview with at the Chicago combine, his agent, Max Ergul, offered some clarity on the situation to Sports Illustrated. He wasn’t avoiding a number of teams. He was just avoiding the Bucks.“The only one I really didn’t care for him [to go to] is Milwaukee,” Ergul saidThis isn’t the first time a Turkish player with whom Ergul is associated with has passed on the Bucks.In 2007, Ersan Ilyasova surprised many by bolting from the NBA to play overseas after his rookie season with Milwaukee. At the time, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Ergul was Ilyasova’s agent, though then General Manager Larry Harris later insisted Ergul was merely an advisor. At any rate, he had some relationship with Ilyasova and may have played a role in steering the Bucks forward away from Milwaukee. Of course, Ergul was singing quite a different tune about Milwaukee at the time.–Bucksketball, circa 2011"

Ergul was also at one point nothing more than “an advisor” to Enes as well. At some juncture he managed to gain the confidence of prominent Turkish doctor Mehmet Kanter, Enes’s father, and became the young basketball prospect’s agent.

A source tells me that Ergul, a Turkish ex-patriot, once the understudy and right-hand man of Tolga Tugsavul — who at some point represented Ilyasova, Hedo Turkoglu and former Jazzman Mehmet Okur as an agent — had an undisclosed falling out with his mentor, surfacing on the scene of the Kanter family around 2008. Ergul has been in the United States since the late 1980s, and based in Chicago for the last couple of decades or so.

There isn’t much information on Ergul to be found outside of a few inner circles, with few mentions of him publicly, although he’s always seemed willing enough to play the media game upon request, through major outlets of course.

Enes Kanter’s agent, Turkish ex-pat Max Ergul, from his LinkedIn profile

Ergul is also listed as representing Dee Bost at one point as well, but Enes Kanter is currently his lone client, and he seems to be gambling on Kanter landing a large NBA payday to extend his career (hobby? Other?).

The gambit may be his heyday as an agent. If Ergul doesn’t land Kanter a — ahem, max — deal larger than Utah is willing to pay, he may then have no clients, unless Ergul were to land Enes’s younger brother Kerem Kanter as a family favor, although I’m told the relationship may be too strained already at this point.

We know the Jazz and Ergul are willing to wait out at least a portion of the season to determine the value of Enes Kanter. The question now becomes whether or not Utah is willing to let it run it’s full course.

The Jazz will certainly entertain offers for Enes, but after letting Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson walk we know Utah isn’t keen to be low-balled by offers. GMs may dial up Dennis Lindsey throwing spaghetti — or other unmentionables — at the wall to see if there’s a bite on the Jazz’s end, but don’t count on brass accepting, or even seriously entertaining, such insults to their collective intelligence.

The question now becomes, how much can Max Ergul get teams to offer his only client?

In position to draft high once again, and with Rudy Gobert waiting in the wings, the trade-off in such an offer would be unpalatable to say the least. Utah is most likely willing to push all their chips to the center of the table, calling out Ergul’s bluff. And will be just fine with the outcome either way.

There’s plenty of chatter about why Gobert should be starting over Kanter, and it’s largely legit from a statistical standpoint. Provided, that is, if your goal is to win as many games as possible. This is where the end game of fans and analysts are often at odds with the designs of franchise management and staff.

For every stat one could drop about why Gobert should start over Kanter I could drop equally scintillating reasoning for why that’s a move that shouldn’t, and hasn’t happened yet.

Gobert isn’t going anywhere anytime soon — he’s locked in for two more years at the least. This is it for Kanter as a Jazzman. You have to know what his value is if you intend to hang onto him or deal him for assets. Why be so quick to kick a guy to the curb? It makes little sense in the grand scheme or the short-term one.

If Gobert takes Kanter’s starting spot it will be after, or nearer the trade deadline, a time when management begins the chess game on expiring contracts in earnest

You don’t want anarchy in the locker room either, especially with a rookie head coach. You also have to hate to lose a young player psychologically by benching him when he’s working as hard as he ever has, particularly on deficiencies that have been loudly vocalized, like his improving defense, now passable as an NBA starter.

The time stamp on this one is post-trade deadline. A trade Enes Kanter decision would naturally demand common sense. What point is there in taking years invested in a top three pick and tossing it in the InSinkErator like so much soggy, leftover salad in a season so clearly about determining worth and development?

Enes Kanter isn’t a car lease you got bored of. If Gobert takes Kanter’s starting spot it will be after, or nearer the trade deadline, a time when management begins the chess game on expiring contracts in earnest.

To bench Kanter now would only lessen any potential value offered pre-trade deadline, while benching him after any failed trade negotiations has the potential to lessen the value tendered for him come summer by opposing GMs with offer sheets that will surely come.