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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz traded Enes Kanter and Steve Novak to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a three-team trade Thursday afternoon.
The Jazz sent Kanter and Novak to Oklahoma City in return for Kendrick Perkins, Grant Jerrett, a first round pick, and the rights to international player Tibor Pleiss from Oklahoma City, and a second round pick from Detroit, the Utah Jazz confirmed Thursday.
Detroit is sending D.J Augustine and Kyle Singler to Oklahoma City and getting Reggie Jackson in return.
"This trade allowed us to add assets while helping to maintain flexibility for the future," said Jazz General Manager Dennis Lindsey in a prepared statement. "Trades like this are never easy, but we thank Enes and Steve for their contributions to the team and in the community and wish them well as they move forward in their careers."
Deseret News' Jody Genessy said the Jazz are expected to buy out Perkins' contract, and several teams, including Cleveland, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas and Chicago, will look to sign him after the buyout, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Lindsey told 1280 The Zone he couldn't comment on whether the organization would, in fact, buy out the Perkins contract.
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"We're thankful for Enes," Lindsey told 1280. "He's worked very hard for three and a half years."
Jerrett is a 6-foot-10 power forward, who averaged 1.4 points and 0.8 rebounds per game this season with the Thunder in five games. Jerrett spent most of the season in the NBA Developmental League until the Thunder acquired him on Jan. 26. He was drafted in 2013 as the No. 40 overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jerrett played one year at the University of Arizona before declaring for the NBA draft in 2013, despite early projections saying he'd likely go late in the second round or undrafted. He averaged 5.2 points and 3.6 rebounds as a Wildcat, where he only started in two games.
Pleiss is a German professional basketball player currently on FC Barcelona. Pleiss is 7-foot-2 and a member of the German national basketball team. Pleiss averages 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds with FC Barcelona this year.
Last week Kanter told reporters he wanted to be traded before the NBA trade deadline, citing lack of playing time as a major reason. Lindsey told 1280 the statements made from Kanter about wanting a trade did not play into the reason for trading him.
Wojnarowski was the first to report that Kanter had been traded.
A huge thank you to the @utahjazz ,my teammates, coaches and the amazing #JazzNation for the last four years... You were all awesome! — Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) February 19, 2015
