Veteran big man Kyle O’Quinn has never made it to the playoffs in any of his first six seasons in the NBA, three of which he spent wearing New York Knicks colors. While New York can provide a fun environment to play in, the basketball atmosphere there has not been conducive for winning over the past several seasons.
It’s also a place O’Quinn seemed happy to leave behind, telling reporters on Monday that he wanted to “play for something more than next year's draft” after signing with the Indiana Pacers, according to Charlie Clifford of WISH-TV.
Kyle O'Quinn joins the #Pacers bench mob. Passed on an offer to return to hometown #Knicks "I wanted to play for something more than next year's draft." @WISH_TV pic.twitter.com/usqbometm8
— Charlie Clifford (@char_cliff) July 9, 2018
Any player who wants to experience some semblance of hope in a team’s future would have felt at least a bit of the same frustration Kyle O’Quinn had during his time in New York.
In O’Quinn’s brief three-year stint in Gotham, the Knicks were only able to win a total of 92 games, so it was not a big surprise that the former Norfolk State star declined his player option this summer to stay one more year in New York, thus converting himself into an unrestricted free agent. His search for his third home in the NBA did not last long, though, as he has already signed a one-year deal worth $4.5 million with the Pacers.
Unlike the Knicks, Indiana knew what the smell of the playoffs was like last season, as the Pacers finished fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 48-34 record. The Knicks, on the other hand, were only 11th with a mediocre slate of 29-53.
In 77 games for the Knicks last season, including 10 starts, O’Quinn averaged 7.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 18.0 minutes.
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