Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, the team announced today.
Kanter, who was acquired on Feb. 19 from the Utah Jazz, appeared in 26 games (26 starts) with the Thunder averaging 18.7 points on 56.6 percent shooting from the floor (196-of-346), 11.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 31.1 minutes per game. Overall, the fourth-year center played in 75 games (74 starts) with Utah and Oklahoma City, averaging 15.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in 28.5 minutes per contest.
Kanter is expected to miss 4-6 weeks before returning to normal offseason activities.
This shouldn’t impact much of anything where the Thunder are concerned. The team missed the playoffs, and Kanter’s projected recovery time would have him back on the court well before the start of training camp in October.
Kanter’s interior offense was a welcome addition to the Thunder lineup, though he’ll need to greatly improve on the defensive end of the floor to play heavy minutes once everyone’s back healthy next season.
