Kanter Review in the First Preseason Game

[Stifle Tower]

But Kanter's slowness and lack of jumping ability, I fear, is going to prevent him from ever being more than a backup, like Kosta.

It will be disappointing if Kanter becomes just a backup. That would seem a waste of a #3 pick on face value. I still say you draft him or Jonas, though. The old adage holds true: "if you're going to make a mistake, make it big." Of the players drafted 3-7:

#3 Enes Kanter (C) - 5 and 4 in 13 mins.
#4 Tristan Thompson (PF) - 8 and 6.5 in 24 mins.
#5 Jonas Valanciunas (C) - did not play in NBA
#6 Jan Veseky (F) - 5 and 4 in 19 mins
#7 Bismack Biyombo (PF/C) - 5 and 6 in 23 mins.

His numbers compare favorably to the bigs drafted right after. His PT is lower due to the presence of Al, Millsap and Favors. Most of the others are on terrible teams and are thrown in immediately. No, there wasn't a Cousins in this draft. Look back over the past several drafts and you only see a few centers who had decent impact their first year: like Lopez and Horford. I wouldn't mind if Kanter became a Noah-type player. It took Joakim 3 years to become a double-double guy. I think Kanter probably averages about 8/7 in 20-25 mins/per this season. Coincidentally, those are very close to Noah's 2nd year stats.

Just for giggles, let's recall the next four players drafted: Picks 8-10 are all PG's (Knight, Walker, Fredette). I'm not going to bother listing their stats. Both Brandon and Kemba struggled shooting the ball their rookie seasons and didn't impress with their assist numbers, either. And we all know Sacramento really reached with The Jimmer. Would Utah be better off with one of those guys? I'm not comfortable with any as "franchise PG's." Of the three, maybe Kemba is the best as a "poor-man's Harris." But all seem to really be undersized SG's, not pure points.

Then you have Klay Thompson and Utah's second pick, Alec Burks. IMO, either would have been a fine choice at #12. Klay's a better shooter, Alec is more athletic and can get to the hoop. Couldn't go wrong with either, IMO.

Conclusion: none of the PG's available at #3 appears to be worth a high lottery pick. It would have been a waste to reach for one. #12 was the perfect spot to pick up a wing as we got one of the two best at that spot. And the bigs were a toss-up. No one has really stood out yet. Perhaps in another 2 years, we can look back and see which ones panned out and which ones are complete busts.