Celtics to sign Enes Kanter to one-year deal

The Celtics have reached an agreement to bring back veteran center Enes Kanter on a one-year contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Kanter has bounced back and forth between Boston and Portland during the last few seasons. He finished the 2018-19 campaign with the Trail Blazers, spent ’19-20 with the Celtics, rejoined the Blazers for ’20-21 and is now headed back to the C’s for the coming season.

Kanter is a reliable scorer and rebounder, who played in all 72 games for Portland in 2020-21 and averaged a double-double (11.2 PPG, 11.0 RPG) while logging just 24.4 minutes per game. He’s not a strong defender, but he’ll fill a hole in the Celtics’ frontcourt following the departure of veteran center Tristan Thompson, who is being traded to Sacramento.

It’s an interesting signing from an optics standpoint for the Celtics, who essentially salary-dumped Kanter a year ago when they sent his contract to Memphis along with the No. 30 pick in the draft (Desmond Bane) in exchange for two future second-rounders. A year later, new president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is signing up for a reunion with the 29-year-old.

While the exact terms of Kanter’s deal haven’t yet been reported, Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link) says it will likely be worth a portion of Boston’s mid-level exception rather than the veteran’s minimum.