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Philadelphia 76ers: Kyle O’Quinn has been a sneaky good signing

By Matty Breisch

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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While he may not be a household name, Kyle O’Quinn has been putting in solid work as the Philadelphia 76ers’ surprisingly utilized third-string center.

In 2018-19, the Philadelphia 76ers‘ center rotation was a mess.

Granted, the team was gifted 64 glorious games by the best center in the NBA, ‘The Process’ himself Joel Embiid, but when the two-time All-Star starter wasn’t able to take the court, things got ugly quick.

With five different players logging minutes at the five-spot over the course of the season, including over-the-hill vets like Amir Johnson and Greg Monroe, mid-upside youngsters like Jonah Bolden and Justin Patton, and certified movie star Boban ‘Bobi’ Marjanović, Brett Brown‘s backup plan behind his fragile superstar was shoddy at best.

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Elton Brand clearly did not want this issue to persist into 2020.

Between Embiid’s health, and the team’s commitment to playing extended winger Tobias Harris at small forward, the Sixers committed big money to fix their frontcourt woes once and for all by signing certified Embiid-buster Al Horford to a four-year max contract.

And then a week later, Brand struck again and gave Kyle O’Quinn a one-year veteran minimum.

Now at the time, O’Quinn’s addition felt like a pretty standard low-risk, marginal-reward move, as between Horford and Embiid, there didn’t seem like there’d be a whole lot of minutes left to fill at the five, but so far, that hasn’t been the case.

No, between Embiid’s injuries/suspension and Horford’s scheduled rest, K.O. has appeared in all but one of the Sixers games so far this season, while averaging 3.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 9.4 minutes of action a night – surprisingly an uptick from his performances with the Indiana Pacers last season.

And if we’re being honest, O’Quinn’s statline doesn’t tell the full story.

As fans of basketball already know, all minutes aren’t made equal, as garbage time can play a huge role in puffing up an inflated line, or crush an average with a few minutes of wasted time. Of the four games where O’Quinn recorded eight or more minutes – excluding the contests against the Charlotte Hornets and the Cleveland Cavaliers where KO didn’t take a shot – those stats jump considerably to six points and four rebounds in 13.25 minutes a game.

If extrapolated over a full 82 game season, that would be O’Quinn’s best single-season line since his second season with the New York Knicks in 2017-18.

Next. Jonah Bolden is a man without a role. dark

Will K.O. ever actually reach those numbers over a full season? Not on this team, but despite having two superstar centers in their starting five with a combined seven All-Star performances between them, the Philadelphia 76ers have gotten some great minutes out of Kyle O’Quinn in limited action off the bench. You have to give it up to Elton Brand, he has an eye for underappreciated talent.