Center Enes Kanter said he still has yet to make a decision on whether he decided to opt into his $18.6 million player option with the Knicks after a report said he would exercise that option.
Eight minutes after Yahoo! Sports' Shams Charania said Friday morning that Kanter would opt in and remain with New York for the 2018-19 season, Kanter responded by saying, "I haven't made any decisions yet."
God Damn shams 😂 I haven't made any decisions yet https://t.co/8D2IoMLsbf
- Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) June 29, 2018
Kanter has until Friday to decide whether to opt in or opt out and become a free agent, though he has reportedly been leaning toward opting in recently, according to ESPN's Ian Begley.
"With Coach Fizdale, I want to stay more," Kanter said recently. "I know his mentality, I know how much freedom he gives to his players. It's going to help my decision for sure. I think he's going to change a lot of things. He seems like a relationship with him is like a friendship relationship. It's not a player-coach relationship. I talked to him for two hours and it gives you so much confidence."
Kanter, 26, said he would wait until "the last day" to decide on his plans for the offseason. He has said many times he wants to remain a Knick given the "great fans, team, organization [and] people.
"I would love to stay here ... but my agent is telling me there could be four, five teams," Kanter said. "My thing is, if I can, I'd just want to stay with the Knicks. I played here last year and I love it, loved the people here. It's not just about the money. It's about the whole organization. But that's the decision I'm going to make the last day."
In 71 games last season, Kanter averaged a double-double with 14.1 points and 11 rebounds per game. Since entering the league as the No. 3 pick in 2011, he has averaged 11.7 points and 7.3 rebounds, playing with the Jazz and Thunder before he was included in the Carmelo Anthony trade.