The Portland Trail Blazers were dealt a stunning blow last week when LaMarcus Aldridge officially announced he was leaving the team to sign with the San Antonio Spurs. Replacing Aldridge will be impossible, at least this offseason, but Portland has set their sights on one player who could have a huge, immediate impact. According to David Aldridge of TNT, Enes Kanter is preparing to sign an offer sheet with the Trail Blazers.

With lots of cap room post-LaMarcus, Blazers putting an offer sheet on Thunder RFA center Enes Kanter, per sources.

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— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) July 9, 2015

Kanter is a restricted free agent of the Oklahoma City Thunder, so he won’t be a member of the Trail Blazers immediately after signing the contract. The Thunder have until Sunday to match the offer and keep Kanter in Oklahoma City.

The Thunder are about $2.5 million under the luxury tax, so signing Kanter to a huge extension would be even more costly than usual. If the offer sheet is for a max deal, matching it would cost Oklahoma City nearly $40 million due to the luxury tax penalties.

Kanter had a breakout second half of the season after being traded to the Thunder from the Utah Jazz at the trade deadline. In 26 games in Oklahoma City, Kanter averaged 18.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game and looked every bit the part of a franchise center. Still just 23 years old, the former No. 3 overall pick still has plenty of room to improve over the next few years before hitting his prime.

UPDATE: The offer sheet is reportedly for four years and $70 million.

Seth Lassen is a writer for RantSports. ‘Like’ him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @Seth_Lassen.