Clippers head coach Doc Rivers and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank had dinner on Tuesday night in Los Angeles with free agent center Kyle O’Quinn, a source tells Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). While the two sides haven’t agreed to a deal at this point, they’ll continue to talk, Turner adds.
O’Quinn, 28, is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-best 7.1 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 77 games for the Knicks. The big man turned down a $4.26MM player option for 2018/19, preferring to test the open market rather than locking in another season in New York.
O’Quinn is an interesting target for the Clippers, who already have a pair of veteran centers – Marcin Gortat and Boban Marjanovic – on their roster, with youngster Montrezl Harrell still in the mix as a restricted free agent.
Gortat and Marjanovic are entering the final year of their respective contracts, so the Clips could view O’Quinn and/or Harrell as longer-term options at center, though the club will likely be reluctant to compromise its 2019 cap flexibility much for either player. Currently, L.A. doesn’t project to have more than about $40MM in guaranteed money on its books next summer, making the team a potential player for a max free agent or two.
Philadelphia and New Orleans have been mentioned as potential suitors for O’Quinn as well, though the Pelicans’ interest was reported before they reached a deal with Julius Randle, so it’s not clear if they’re still eyeing the former Knick. The Sixers have no cap room remaining for now, but could make a play for O’Quinn with their $4.45MM room exception.
KOQ would fit in Milwaukee.
Expect the Clippers to work the cap enough to be able to land Kyrie and Jimmy Butler next summer. That’s where those two can team up for a nice, long run.
A lot of teams
KO has to be one of the few backup bigs opting out of his current contract. Interesting to see what he’s paid.
Hard to imagine a more productive guy in the 15-20 min role he had for the Knicks last year, and (one would think) he out played his measly contract, but nothing would surprise me.
I have a feeling he may end up taking less which is unfortunate
Solid guy, would do a nice job in Philly backing up Embiid, just saying.