Houston Rockets: Team should have their bullseye on Enes Kanter

The Houston Rockets need to target Enes Kanter as he’s reportedly been bought out by the Knicks. He would provide tremendous help but in what way? Look.

The Houston Rockets are now past the trade deadline and with all of the maneuvers that were made, Iman Shumpert was the nugget that gleaned. The necessary collateral of Brandon Knight, Marquese Chriss. James Ennis as well as their 2019 first-rounder were all surrendered as casualties.

The team was able to accomplish two things with this trade deadline — first, the Houston Rockets were able to get a long-coveted guard in Shumpert that aligns with the team mindset. Secondly, and they were able to shed a lot of unwanted contracts as well as players teetering on the edge of being unproductive such as Ennis.

Would I consider this trade deadline a success? Absolutely. Am I thrilled with it? Not necessarily. It just depends on how one perceives the moves that were made but I think Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey did the best he could considering the circumstances.

The team was going to have a hefty luxury bill by being an offensive repeater, already soaring into the double-digits if they had carried the previous roster as it was.

Morey once again proved that he has superior analytical skills and he was able to magically accomplish the goals likely set forth way before the deadline.

But now there’s new beginnings with the buyout market being ripe with talent.

One of the brightest stars that is available is currently power forward/center Enes Kanter. I’ve been quite fond of him since he days with the Utah Jazz and wanted the Houston Rockets to sign when he was free agent before he decided to sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

His career eventually meandered to the New York Knicks in a mostly-forgettable stretch of basketball but his productivity remained stout for team that runs in constant circles of ineptitude.

Hell, the headlines of Kanter having fears of being extradited back to his home country of Turkey created more shock waves than what he was actually contributing with the Knickerbockers.

Nonetheless, he was recently waived by New York, allowing him the freedom to sign with a team that will need his services in their stretch run. A buyout agreement will likely follow for the remainder of the $18.6 million that he’s owed for this season.

But anyway, the Houston Rockets have a problem. With Clint Capela being out, this team has dropped to 25th in rebound rate. They’re only taking down 48.2 percent of their missed shots.

Do you know who the leader of the NBA pack is? It’s the Denver Nuggets, a team that’s taking down 52.6 percent of clankers off the rim.

It was extremely evident in the Houston Rockets‘ Feb. 1 136-122 loss to the Nugs, even though they shot 52.9 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three, they marginally lost the rebounding battle 36-30.

Their offensive rebounding rate is actually quite stout with the team being ranked 11th (23.9

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percent) but it’s their defensive rebounding rate that needs work (28th, 74.2 percent).

Kanter would certainly shore things up in that department with a skill that he’s mastered to damn near perfection.

Kanter’s defensive rebounding percentage is at 28.1 for the season which is good enough for 12th among active players.

The 6-foot-11, 250-pound bruiser is a solid defender in the front court and although he’s posting one of the lowest defensive ratings of his career this season (112 per 100 possessions), there’s no doubt that he would be able to boost this team’s defensive prowess with his presence.

The Houston Rockets can stack the deck with making a move for Kanter and they’ll have a luxury of figuring out where to put their front court players in the rotation, especially when Capela gets back into the lineup.

This is certainly a move the Houston Rockets don’t have to make but I think they need to make it in order to get this team ever-closer to being championship contender.

Kanter has a lot of suitors so the Houston Rockets will be jockeying for position but I think Morey can sell the fact that Kanter would be joining a team that has just a good a chance to win a chip as the other darlings of the NBA such as the Golden State Warriors.

We’ll have to see how this pans out but I’m looking forward to who the team buys out as I’m positive at least one move within that realm happens.

Let’s go!

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Kanter, 26, is averaging 14.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 53.6 percent from the field and 81.4 percent from the charity stripe through 44 games — 23 starts — this season.

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