Kyle O’Quinn
By: Lucas Johnson
Honestly, Kyle O’Quinn isn’t having a bad season by his standards in terms of production. He’s averaging 3.2 points (career low), 3.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.8 blocks, while converting 33.3 percent of his 3-pointers.
Philadelphia 76ers
His points are at a career low because he’s averaging just 10.3 minutes per game, the second lowest of his career. Despite the low amount of minutes, he’s still productive. O’Quinn needs to continue being patient as his own New Year’s Resolution.
To be clear, on most other teams O’Quinn is either a high end backup big or a starting center. He’s not going to wow fans with his stats, but his defense, high basketball I.Q. and his ability to stretch the floor makes him a quality center. However, due to the fact he’s on the Sixers, he’s stuck behind Al Horford and Joel Embiid.
The 76ers are very luck to have signed him to a cheap deal this summer and to have him as their third string center. However, recently Philly has been playing Norvel Pelle ahead of O’Quinn on the depth chart. This isn’t an indictment on O’Quinn, but to rather see what Pelle can provide on the NBA level.
O’Quinn’s playing time should be coming, he just needs to stay patient until it does. He’s the ideal player to have behind Embiid and Horford. Embiid has an lengthy injury history, where as Horford is getting older and will need time to rest. Hopefully, opportunities will open up for O’Quinn to get a little bit more game action as the season continues.