Enes Kanter seems to be a point of contention amongst Dunkers. There are those who believe he has the potential to be the best player on the team, and others who think he'll never be more than an adequate starter. Personally, I'm on the fence. I see his scoring potential, but I'm concerned about his defense. Style wise, I like the Al Jefferson comparison, a player who just made an all-NBA team, but Big Al was also scorned as a player that gave up more points than he contributed, and couldn't be a key piece on a contending team. Adding to the debate is the fantastic summer-league/FIBA play of Rudy Gobert.
I decided to take a look and see how Kanter compares with other bigs (ranging from career backups to All-NBA) through their first 3 years. I am, however, going to make things a little difficult for you by not giving you their names. I'm also not going to use raw numbers, but normalized statistics.
Per 36
| Player | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
| A | 7.2 | 14.7 | 0.487 | 0 | 0.2 | 0.216 | 7.1 | 14.5 | 0.49 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 0.764 | 3.1 | 4.6 | 7.6 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 17.3 |
| B | 6.8 | 13.2 | 0.513 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 6.8 | 13.2 | 0.516 | 3 | 4.6 | 0.66 | 3.7 | 7.4 | 11.1 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 4.8 | 16.6 |
| C | 6.5 | 12.9 | 0.505 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 6.5 | 12.9 | 0.506 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 0.732 | 4.1 | 6.3 | 10.4 | 1 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 3.8 | 15.8 |
| D | 6 | 12.8 | 0.473 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12.8 | 0.473 | 2.9 | 4.7 | 0.611 | 3.9 | 7.4 | 11.2 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 15 |
| E | 7.3 | 14.8 | 0.492 | 0 | 0.2 | 0.176 | 7.2 | 14.6 | 0.496 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 0.757 | 3.2 | 5.8 | 9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 5.4 | 17.7 |
| F | 6.2 | 12.4 | 0.503 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.232 | 6.1 | 12 | 0.513 | 4.3 | 5.9 | 0.731 | 2.3 | 4.9 | 7.2 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 3.9 | 16.9 |
Per 100 possessions
| Player | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
| A | 10.9 | 22.5 | 0.487 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.216 | 10.9 | 22.2 | 0.49 | 4.4 | 5.8 | 0.764 | 4.7 | 7 | 11.6 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 4.9 | 26.4 |
| B | 9.8 | 19.1 | 0.513 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 9.8 | 19 | 0.516 | 4.4 | 6.6 | 0.66 | 5.3 | 10.7 | 16 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 7 | 24 |
| C | 9.5 | 18.9 | 0.505 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 9.5 | 18.8 | 0.506 | 4 | 5.5 | 0.732 | 6 | 9.2 | 15.2 | 1.5 | 1 | 1.2 | 3.8 | 5.6 | 23.1 |
| D | 8.7 | 18.4 | 0.473 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.7 | 18.4 | 0.473 | 4.2 | 6.8 | 0.611 | 5.6 | 10.6 | 16.2 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 4.6 | 21.6 |
| E | 10.7 | 21.7 | 0.492 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.176 | 10.6 | 21.4 | 0.496 | 4.6 | 6.1 | 0.757 | 4.8 | 8.5 | 13.2 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 7.9 | 26 |
| F | 8.9 | 17.7 | 0.503 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.232 | 8.8 | 17.1 | 0.513 | 6.2 | 8.5 | 0.731 | 3.3 | 6.9 | 10.2 | 1.8 | 1 | 0.9 | 3.4 | 5.6 | 24.2 |
Advanced
| Player | PER | TS% | eFG% | FTr | 3PAr | ORB% | DRB% | TRB% | AST% | STL% | BLK% | TOV% | USG% | ORtg | DRtg | OWS | DWS | WS | WS/48 |
| A | 18.5 | 0.527 | 0.488 | 0.259 | 0.013 | 10.2 | 15.6 | 12.9 | 7.9 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 8.3 | 23.4 | 112 | 108 | 12.1 | 7.1 | 19.1 | 0.13 |
| B | 18.2 | 0.545 | 0.513 | 0.346 | 0.005 | 12.2 | 24.8 | 18.4 | 5.9 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 12.3 | 21.9 | 107 | 103 | 5.5 | 6.1 | 11.7 | 0.126 |
| C | 15.9 | 0.543 | 0.506 | 0.29 | 0.002 | 12.8 | 20.7 | 16.7 | 5 | 1 | 1.9 | 15.3 | 21.8 | 104 | 109 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 6.2 | 0.073 |
| D | 17.6 | 0.504 | 0.473 | 0.371 | 0 | 12 | 24.9 | 18.2 | 5.2 | 1.3 | 4.6 | 10.8 | 20.7 | 104 | 104 | 4.3 | 7.8 | 12.1 | 0.1 |
| E | 17.2 | 0.533 | 0.493 | 0.283 | 0.014 | 10.6 | 19 | 14.8 | 5.6 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 9 | 23.2 | 110 | 107 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 7.6 | 0.122 |
| F | 15.2 | 0.564 | 0.508 | 0.479 | 0.035 | 7.4 | 15.8 | 11.6 | 5.9 | 1 | 1.3 | 13.5 | 21.9 | 107 | 111 | 5.3 | 2.4 | 7.7 | 0.08 |
I noticed a few things about this group of players:
- None of them were good passers in their first three seasons. The best players from this list almost doubled their assist percentage later in their careers.
- Total rebounds/TRB% seemed to have no effect on career path. Neither did Turnovers/TOV%.
- After year 3, none of these players regressed. Every one of them either stayed around these numbers or improved.
My guess is that many of you are familiar enough with Enes Kanter to have a pretty solid idea of which player he is. So then the question becomes which player is he most similar to.
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