New York Knicks: Will Enes Kanter stick as backup center?

Enes Kanter moved to the bench for the first time with the New York Knicks.

The unexpected arrived with changes to the New York Knicks starting lineup for Friday’s game against the Golden State Warriors. Lance Thomas and Trey Burke left for their one-way performances in favor of players with greater two-way ability, Damyean Dotson and Noah Vonleh.

Those weren’t head-turners compared to the removal of Enes Kanter from the starting lineup, especially to put Mitchell Robinson in his place. The 2018 second-round pick had 7 points and 6 rebounds in 29 minutes.

Kanter, who opened the season with four consecutive double-doubles and five starts, played 20 minutes against the Warriors and produced 8 points and 13 rebounds.

hough not outspoken over the demotion, it was still a toned down version of the usually boisterous player, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.

"“Coach said he wants me to lead the second unit,” Kanter said. “I’m just leading the second unit.’’Asked again his feelings on it, Kanter, who started every game last season, said flatly, “I’m going out there leading the second unit.’’"

A bench role isn’t new for the 26-year-old center, as started just 27 games in two-plus seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder and was a reserve early in his Utah Jazz stint. In this almost exclusive role in Oklahoma City, he averaged 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds on 56 percent shooting.

The second unit is Kanter’s, with Burke alongside, for the foreseeable future, or until head coach David Fizdale opts for changes after another five-game stretch. This group is 0-1, despite a lead over Golden State after three quarters.

It’s only one game, but a situation to monitor moving forward on Kanter’s reactions to this bench role. There’s still time for Fizdale to smooth everything over and even reinsert the Turkish big man. It may never happen, though, so it can potentially become a team morale situation.

If it escalates to the point of Kanter’s desire to leave New York, he’s owed $18.6 million in 2018-19 before hitting free agency in July. It’s much for a team to take on midseason, unless he and the Knicks work a buyout ahead of the deadline.

For now, the Knicks have opted for Robinson’s defense to start and Kanter’s offense to supplement as part of this lineup experiment. Its next test happens Monday against the Brooklyn Nets.