At 6-foot-11 and 260 pounds, Turkish center and NBA Draft prospect Enes Kanter has NBA size despite having just turned 19 years old. Though the Cleveland Cavaliers may hope he's available when they pick fourth overall in this year's Draft, it's becoming increasingly likely he'll be off the board.
"We expect him to go within the first two picks," Mike Naiditch, an NBA agent close to Kanter's agent, Max Ergul, told Adam Zagoria. "We expect him to go in the top 2, maybe 3, but we don’t think he’s going to go past that."
The Cavaliers are widely expected to use the first overall pick on Duke point guard Kyrie Irving, and the Minnesota Timberwolves will almost assuredly select Arizona forward Derrick Williams second overall. The Utah Jazz own the third pick and Kanter may not escape their grasp.
With all that said, SB Nation NBA editor Tom Ziller has the Jazz instead taking Kentucky point guard Brandon Knight in his latest 2011 NBA Mock Draft. "We've had Enes Kanter here since the lottery, on account of Utah's strict best player available policy," Ziller writes of Utah's pick. "But Knight could very well convince teams he's the third-best prospect in the draft by the time late June comes around."
Kanter could join a talented Cavs frontcourt which already features Anderson Varejao and J.J. Hickson. But if he's off the board, whom Cleveland will take instead is anyone's guess.