Enes Kanter will sign max offer sheet with Portland Trail Blazers

Enes Kanter is in Portland today and will reportedly be signing a max offer sheet with the Trail Blazers. The official terms of the deal are for 4 years at $70 Million, with the fourth year as a player option. The Thunder have the right to match the offer within three days. Reports have indicated that the Thunder are willing to match any offer.

This deal could spell disaster for the Thunder's financial future. After matching the offer, OKC will owe the league nearly $20 million in taxes. OKC could always trade the contracts of Steve Novak and Perry Jones, but that would only soften the blow. In any case, signing Kanter here would be a huge vote of confidence on the Thunder's part, as this scenario has the Thunder going much farther over the luxury tax than they ever have been before.

The Blazers have lost four of their five starters to free agency and trades this off-season, and are looking to build towards the future. Enes Kanter is only 24 years old, and the Blazers are backed by the money of Paul Allen. Allen has been more tight with his pocketbook in recent years, but was known for his absurd spending in the early 2000s. Furthermore, Allen was willing to pay Aldridge before the latter decided to leave for San Antonio. In any case, many don't see this as a realistic offer from the Blazers. Portland may simply want to spite the Thunder by forcing them to overpay for Kanter. Why? I'll leave the speculation up to you....

We'll have all the updates on this situation as they break. Thanks to commenter Ooster_lag for bringing the story to our attention.