Trade Rumors: Enes Kanter Demands Trade

With the emergence of Rudy Gobert, Jazz fans have been expecting Enes Kanter to be traded.  Many of these fans have expressed that they would try and trade Enes Kanter for Nik Stauskas.

So, this is what a trade would look like if that were to happen.

Stauskas was a lights out shooter at Michigan.  He was a savvy ball handler and decent passer.  Concerns about Staukas at the time of the draft were his below average athleticism and defense.  Nik has struggled during his first year in the league and is only shooting 26.4% from three.  He is having to adjust to shooting against stronger, bigger, and faster defenders.

Reggie Evans would just be a piece to make salaries work in this trade.  He is a terrible offensive player, but a capable defender.  Evans is a wonderful rebounder and would be able to play 20 minutes a night off the bench.

The Kings should consider this trade for a couple reasons.  First of all, they have very little big man talent next to DeMarcus Cousins.  His surrounding cast of big men consist of Ryan Hollins, Reggie Evans, Derrick Williams, and Jason Thompson.  Putting Enes Kanter next to Cousins would help create an offensive nightmare for teams to defend.  Sacramento will not be able to attract a free agent big on the level of Kanter.  This trade gets them that big and a second round pick.

The problem is that Sacramento may not be willing to part with a player like Stauskas for Kanter.

"“Kanter for Stauskas and Evans isn’t out of the realm of possibility. If I am to believe what the front office here has been saying though, I would have to guess that they wouldn’t do it, but it is their job to make their players sound more valuable than they are. Stauskas has had a rough rookie season; I wouldn’t imagine his value being much higher than this. A trade between these two teams feels unlikely because they are both sort of in the same stage of their rebuilds. Neither team is probably looking to trade away younger talent they have contractual control over for an older veteran. I think the Kings would be legitimately interested in Burks, but not necessarily interested in giving up young players to land him because of the way his contract will jump up next season. I don’t think they’d want to use the little cap flexibility they’ll have this off-season by trading for Burks without sending Landry or Thompson out, and I don’t think Utah would have much interest in either player.”"

Tony is likely correct that the Kings won’t want to trade Nik Stauskas.  If they decide to, however, this may be a good package for them to consider.

You can find this trade on ESPN’s trade machine here.

Next: Chicago Bulls - Tony Snell