Utah Jazz rookie Enes Kanter resumes training in United States – NBA Update
Enes Kanter, the Turkish prodigy who was roped in by Utah Jazz with their number third pick in this year’s draft, is now back in the United States to resume training with renowned basketball coach Tim Grover in Chicago .
The NBA lockout means that the Utah Jazz rookie cannot train with franchise coaches or use Jazz facilities for this purpose.
There was a possibility that Kanter could move abroad during the NBA lockout, maybe to his native country, Turkey. There were also some rumours linking him with a move to China. However his agent has now clarified that although
there was some interest, it subsided after the Chinese Basketball Association introduced a rule forbidding foreign players to leave mid way through the season.
“The China thing, what happened is … Enes’ priority is the NBA, as an NBA player,” said Max Ergul, Kanter’s agent, the Salt Lake Tribune. “Once [China] came up with that rule change — we thought they could’ve bent it around — it’s
just not happening. They’re very stern; they don’t want a player coming and leaving. I’m not going to put my signature on something that might force him to stay there for a whole season.”
Instead, Kanter will now focus on removing the kinks in his game under the supervision of Grover, with whom he spent a lot of time last season. Kanter came to the United States a year ago and enrolled in a university. However,
as he had played professionally in Turkey, the centre was ruled ineligible to appear in National Collegiate Basketball Association (NCAA) basketball.
In the lockout, Kanter has had the opportunity to play professional basketball with his home team in the FIBA Eurobasket. Although Turkey didn’t go too far in the tournament, the young Kanter put in some good displays, showcasing
his talent in the continental competition.
As opposed to the usual European big guys, Kanter is not just a good outside shooter. He has some muscle on him and can crash the boards while also possessing a great inside game. Add Complement it with Kanter’s overall understanding
and awareness of the game, the Utah Jazz have their hands on a potential top 5 centre for the next ten years.
However, it remains to be seen if Kanter will be able to translate his enormous potential onto the NBA stage, something a number of European youths have struggled with in recent years.
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