Enes Kanter's chair punch won't doom the Thunder, and here's why

According to SportsLine's advanced calculations, OKC should be OK without its big man

When Enes Kanter punched a chair during the Oklahoma City Thunder's 109-98 win over the Dallas Mavericks last Thursday, he cost himself part of his season. The silly decision, made in a fit of rage, resulted in the big man having surgery the next day to repair a fractured right ulna (a broken bone in his forearm). The Thunder announced that Kanter would be reevaluated in four weeks, but The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that he could miss six to eight weeks.

This obviously hurts Oklahoma City's depth. The Thunder rely heavily on Russell Westbrook to score, and Kanter is one of his few teammates who can create offense on his own. On the season, he's averaging 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds in 21.6 minutes, shooting 56.3 percent. According to SportsLine's Daniel Cypra, though, his absence does not mean that Oklahoma City will necessarily fall in the standings:

Kanter could be out two months, or about 20 games. According to SportsLine's advanced calculations, Oklahoma City's chances of winning any single game go down 4.7 percent without Kanter in the lineup.

Over the course of 20 games, that comes out to one fewer win than if he had played for the next two months.

With Kanter, SportsLine had the Thunder going 11-9 in their next 20 games. One less win means SportsLine projects Oklahoma City to go 10-10.

Kanter's on/off numbers are exactly what you'd expect. He's a force on the glass and he has a soft touch on the inside, so the Thunder score 108 points per 100 possessions when he's on the court and 101.7 points per 100 possessions when he's on the bench. While he has made some strides on the defensive end, he's still a liability in the pick and roll and not much of a rim protector, so Oklahoma City gives up 107.9 points per 100 possessions with him on the court and 101.6 points per 100 possessions when he's on the bench.

Translation: This season, his poor defense has perfectly canceled out his excellent offense -- the Thunder have outscored opponents by the same tiny margin -- 0.1 points per 100 possessions -- with him on and off the court.

The issue, of course, is how his injury will affect other players. His minutes will probably be divided between reserve bigs Jerami Grant and Joffrey Lauverne, and there might be an opportunity for Domantas Sabonis to carve out a bit more playing time, too. It also puts more pressure on Steven Adams to dominate the glass and provide some scoring on the inside. If they keep up their normal production and nobody else gets injured, then OKC should be OK.