With the Feb. 7 trade deadline just over a month away, Enes Kanter's days with the New York Knicks may be numbered.
The Knicks are open to fielding offers for the 26-year-old center and have received interest from several potential suitors, league sources told The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov.
However, even as the team flounders with a 10-29 record, New York is reportedly not yet nearing a trade, and a buyout of the final year of Kanter's $18.6-million contract isn't on the table either.
Kanter is averaging 14.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, and two assists per game in his second season with the Knicks, but his role has diminished of late. After a lengthy string of starts, he's been supplanted by second-year stretch big Luke Kornet over the past four games as head coach David Fizdale continues to evaluate his young roster. Kanter has averaged just 19.6 minutes per contest since being moved to a reserve role.
For his part, Kanter claimed earlier this week that he hasn't broached the potential of a trade during a recent meeting with Knicks general manager Scott Perry, and while he's not ecstatic with the team's current trajectory, he's going to continue to make the most of it.
"In the end, we all are competitors, basketball players," Kanter said of his move to the bench, according to ESPN. "I like it here so much, but again I want to win. I want this team to get to the playoffs one day. This is my blood, man. ... I'm going out there to get a win every time."
