To your first point. Yes, he will be a free agent next year. And this is why there were those of us clamoring for Corbin to play and develop him, so we'd know his value. You've been in the camp that "but his play doesn't merit it," and that's been the issue. With Paul and Al, Corbin couldn't play him, and I supported that. But, our FO has always known Kanter was a project in every sense of the word. They knew it would take time before he could absorb basketball knowledge and start applying it. Both parties have been in a hard spot. The Jazz had good players in Paul and Al and tough decisions to make. And Kanter needed coaching and development. The jazz chose to blow up the team to allow for his and the other young kids' development, so why bail after one year? He has a whole upcoming season before he hits RFA. I doubt the Jazz expected to see everything they were going to see from him the first season he saw real minutes, in a less than ideal team full of other plays in similar situations, a coach on the last year of his contract, and missing an offseason due to his shoulder. I'm sure they thought about their situation.
I agree with the "If you can turn Enes into an asset that has a better chance at becoming that requisite talent, you pull the trigger." But where is that deal? He's approaching the final year of his rookie deal. He's coming off a season that exposed his weaknesses more than they exposed his strength's. As Jazz fans, we've seen more, know more, etc. other teams aren't going to see as much value in him as he is worth. His potential is still intact. He just barely turned 22 last week. He has little coaching, but he has great touch, instinct for offensive rebounding, size, ability to run, stretch the floor, post up, etc. why should we be looking to sell low? A prospect like him would go in the top 7 of this draft easily. We also know he has good character and work ethic , and a desire to be here. Kanter has elite talent, but hasn't put it together yet, mostly because he hasn't had the time to put it together.