ESPN.com's Ian Begley reports O'Quinn will receive a $16 million salary over the next four seasons. Additionally, O'Quinn will have a player option for the fourth year of his contract and could become a free agent in the 2017-18 offseason if he decides to opt out.
The Knicks will not give up much in the sign-and-trade and will only have to send the Magic cash considerations and the right to swap their 2019 second round draft pick according to Adrian Woknarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Kyle O'Quinn was originally drafted out of Norfolk State University in the 2nd round of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic. O'Quinn played center in his first two seasons in the league but played a majority of his minutes at power forward last year. O'Quinn projects to be the Knicks' starting power forward on opening night.
O'Quinn has only averaged 15 minutes per game during his career and primarily served as the back up to Nikola Vucevic. He was very efficient in his role and averaged 13.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per 36 minutes. These are very good numbers and O'Quinn will be a bargain if he can replicate those numbers as a starter. This was a low-risk high-reward signing by the Knicks front office. In the worst scenario, O'Quinn would become a hustle player and tenacious rebounder that would come off the bench. In the best scenario, O'Quinn could become an all-star and an integral part of the Knicks' front-court.
Despite performing very well in limited minutes, former Magic coach Jacque Vaughn consistently benched O'Quinn for the entity of most games. O'Quinn was barely given an opportunity to stay in the rotation, let alone become a starter like he deserves. Due to his reduced role in the Magic's rotation, the Knicks were able to cheaply acquire him this offseason. With the Knicks, O'Quinn finally has the opportunity to become a starter in the NBA and could get double-doubles on a nightly basis if he is given an appropriate amount of minutes and lives up to his potential.
By Max DeMarco
Source: Jacob Eisenberg, Sheridan Sports
All stats are via Basketball-Reference.com
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