Kanter has also publicly addressed political issues in his native Turkey, and his criticism of the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has left him something of a man without a country.

Kanter will add depth to a Portland team that currently holds the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. The Blazers, who already had Evan Turner and Seth Curry contributing off the bench, have added two prominent pieces, Kanter and Rodney Hood, a small forward acquired in a trade with Cleveland last week.

Kanter’s play did not decline appreciably this season, but with the Knicks committed to a youth movement — and to keeping their win total low in pursuit of the No. 1 pick in the draft — there was no place for a productive center whose contract was set to expire at the end of this season. After acquiring DeAndre Jordan to help with the development of the rookie center Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks were unable to find a taker for Kanter, so they released him.

Kanter had publicly complained about his treatment by the Knicks, but he wrote an open letter to fans after his release on Feb. 7, saying the team had always made him feel at home and that New York would always have “a special place in my heart.”

Knicks Coach David Fizdale, who did not play Kanter in six of his last eight games with the team, said last week that he thought the decision to part ways could be good for Kanter.