BOSTON — Enes Kanter is easily the most accomplished big man among the consortium of bigs the Celtics collected over the summer.
And while his role will be an important one, there are plenty of indicators pointing towards Kanter beginning the season as a key performer coming off the Celtics bench.
The 6-foot-11 center came off the bench in all three of his preseason appearances Kanter averaged 17.2 minutes, 6.3 points and 6.3 rebounds, along with shooting 53.3 percent from the field in the three games.
From the time Kanter signed with Boston, the Celtics have made no secret about him playing a significant role as a scorer in the low post.
“He just knows how to score around the basket,” Kemba Walker told NBC Sports Boston. “As long as I’ve been in the league, that’s what Enes does; he’s a scorer, for sure.”
His strength and Boston’s need for more scoring at the rim led to many assuming he would be the starting center.
But coach Brad Stevens has hinted on multiple occasions that he sees Kanter being most useful coming off the bench – something Kanter says he’s on board with, if that’s what Stevens wants to do.
“Throughout my career, I play as a starter and as a player coming off the bench,” Kanter told NBC Sports Boston. “I’m OK either way.”
The eight-year veteran has appeared in 583 regular-season games, with 216 of those as a starter.
That’s why the idea of starting or being a key reserve doesn’t change anything for him as far as how he approaches games.
“If we’re winning, everything is cool,” Kanter said. “I know where coach is going. Obviously, first unit everybody can score. With me and [Marcus] Smart with the second unit, we can come in and … we have another level to go to.”
According to Hoopsstats.com, the Celtics averaged 38.4 bench points last season, which ranked 10th in the NBA.
With Terry Rozier in Charlotte via sign-and-trade, Marcus Morris in New York and Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward back in the Celtics’ starting lineup, Boston’s second unit will look dramatically different than a year ago.
Kanter coming off the bench provides the Celtics with a legit, proven scorer with the second unit with career averages of 11.7 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 54.1 percent from the field.
Starting or not, the focus for Kanter remains the same – make an impact as soon as he can once he enters the game.
Achieving that becomes easier if there’s a heightened level of comfort with his teammates. It’s something Kanter has made a priority in his first training camp with the Celtics.
“We know how to score the ball, how to play basketball,” Kanter said. “For the preseason the most important thing for us is to build that chemistry. Whenever we go out there, we’re trying to communicate, we’re trying to trust each other and try to get used to playing with each other.
Kanter added, “That’s the most important thing. Off the court is so important. That’s going to make us better teammates, better friends. So, right now, all I care about what’s going on off the court. Once we get in there, we’ll be fine.”
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.
