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Kyle O'Quinn, Pacers Reportedly Agree to 1-Year, $4.5 Million Contract

Mike Chiari

Veteran center Kyle O'Quinn reportedly agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million contract with the Indiana Pacers in free agency Friday, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.

The 28-year-old O'Quinn spent the past three seasons with the New York Knicks and was among the team's biggest bright spots as a rotational big man.

O'Quinn set career highs across the board last season with averages of 7.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 blocks in 18.0 minutes per game, while also shooting 58.2 percent from the field.

Although his overall numbers don't leap off the page, O'Quinn was fantastic on a per-36-minute basis with averages of 14.3 points, 12.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.5 blocks.

After turning in the best season of his NBA career, O'Quinn declined the $4.26 million player option in his contract with the Knicks to become an unrestricted free agent.

O'Quinn has steadily improved throughout his career since the Orlando Magic selected him with the No. 49 overall pick in the second round of the 2012 NBA draft out of Norfolk State.

The past two seasons have been O'Quinn's best, and his production in a fairly small sample size suggests he is deserving of an even bigger role.

In six NBA seasons, O'Quinn has just 60 starts to his credit, and he has yet to appear in a playoff game.

Questions remain about how he might perform with more minutes or on a larger stage, but there is little doubt that O'Quinn is a useful player who brings versatility to a frontcourt rotation.

With Kristaps Porzingis working his way back from a knee injury, O'Quinn will be sorely missed by the Knicks, and their frontcourt could be a major weakness if Porzingis is unable to return for the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

In Indiana, he'll give the team a solid veteran on the block in a reserve role behind players like Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis.  

   

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