The New York Knicks are considering their options in dealing with a situation involving Kyle O’Quinn’s contract.
According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, the Knicks have a reason to believe that the Norfolk State Cinderella hero is not going to pick up his last-year player option at the end of the season.
The Knicks are under the impression O’Quinn, a Queens product who is on a modest pact considering his improvement this season, will opt out this summer. He is set to make $4.25 million next season in the last year of his four-year pact.
With that, it could be a prudent move for the Knicks to just trade O’Quinn, while he is still part of their controllable assets. If the Knicks do place O’Quinn on the trading block, the question would be how much would teams be willing to give up for a player that could leave them next summer.
The Knicks have a crowded frontcourt that already has Enes Kanter, Willy Hernangomez, and Joakim Noah, so expelling O’Quinn could open up some minutes for Hernangomez to develop and for Noah to make up for lost time after a lengthy absence.
O’Quinn is an efficient big man who always delivers whenever he gets enough playing time. Per 36 minutes, O’Quinn is averaging 14.1 points and 12.8 rebounds this season.
O’Quinn signed a four-year contract with the Orlando Magic in 2015 before being shipped to the Big Apple in a sign-and-trade transaction that same year.
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