Thunder match Enes Kanter’s offer sheet

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The Thunder have matched Enes Kanter’s four-year, $70 million offer sheet, the team announced Sunday.

The Thunder took all three days allotted to match the deal, not because there was a heated internal discussion about it, but really just because they could. The Blazers cap space was tied up for three days as if they’d inked Kanter, which prevented them from really negotiating in earnest with other free agents the last three days.

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. Something the Blazers put in to try and discourage the Thunder from matching.)

Adding Kanter to the roster puts the Thunder almost $28 million over the 2015-16 salary cap, and more than $13 million over the luxury tax threshold. If they don’t make any other moves, the Thunder would have roughly a $24 million luxury tax payment due at the end of next season. The Thunder are likely to shop forwards Steve Novak and Perry Jones III to help alleviate some of the pending financial hit.