Thunder match Portland's offer sheet for Enes Kanter, retain big man for 4 years, $70 million

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Oklahoma City Thunder has informed the Portland Trail Blazers that it has matched restricted free agent Enes Kanter's 4 year, $70 million offer sheet.

Report: OKC has matched the Blazers' $70 million offer sheet for restricted FA Enes Kanter (via @WojYahooNBA) pic.twitter.com/90D1TDjGQX

— NBA.com (@NBAcom) July 13, 2015

As is the apparent trend this off-season, Kanter confirmed the announcement via emojis.

⚡️

— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) July 13, 2015

The Thunder and Sam Presti particularly made it clear since the beginning that re-signing Kanter is a priority for the organization. Also, per Woj, this decision was not a difficult one:

For Thunder, this was an easy decision. OKC offered Kanter in $62M-range, and always planned for possibility of a max offer sheet.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 13, 2015

Presti had this to say:

#Thunder match Trail Blazers offer for Enes Kanter. http://t.co/Gf2Omp1YkE pic.twitter.com/5v26p49OaX

— Martina Del Bonta (@MartinaFOX23) July 13, 2015

Furthermore, adding Kanter's max deal will not have a serious impact on the Thunder's luxury tax implications down the road:

As salary cap rises in 2016-'17, Kanter contract won't cause Thunder to be a luxury tax team -- even if Kevin Durant signed new deal.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 13, 2015

But...

Matching on Kanter takes OKC to 15 guaranteed contracts and moves 'em $13+ mil over the luxury-tax line. Tax bill would thus be nearly $25M

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 13, 2015

Royce Young reminds us that Kanter's new deal has to mirror the Blazers' offer:

Per the rules, the deal Kanter now signs with the Thunder is the exact same he signed with the Blazers. A four-year deal with a player option on year four, with a 15 percent trade kicker. (That means if the Thunder trade Kanter during his contract, he's owed an extra 15 percent of whatever is remaining on his contract.

Re-signing Kanter was not seen as necessary as the Thunder had been title contenders without him, but it is absolutely an upgrade for the roster despite his weak defensive abilities. He's a brilliant offensive center with reliable amount of offensive weapons that will impact the team positively as the Thunder look to wash away a forgettable season last year and pursue the championship once again.