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Per Brad Turner of the LA Times, Doc Rivers and Lawrence Frank had dinner with free agent center Kyle O’Quinn last night.
O’Quinn is a veteran backup center who has spent the last three seasons on the New York Knicks. At 28 years old, he’s somewhat younger than the Clippers’ previous rumored big man targets, Anthony Tolliver and Amir Johnson. He’s also just a better player at this point, as he’s been one of the stronger backup centers in the NBA over the past two years. An efficient scorer, strong rebounder, and solid passer, O’Quinn is a well-rounded talent whose main flaw is a propensity for fouling, which keeps his minutes limited. He’s also somewhat undersized as a rim protector, but isn’t a bad defensive player overall.
The Clippers do already have two centers on their roster in Marcin Gortat and Boban Marjanovic, and reportedly still have interest in re-signing restricted free agent Montrezl Harrell. Their interest in O’Quinn could therefore either be as a potential replacement for Trez, or as a signal that one or both of the Gortat/Boban duo might be on the move soon.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers and president Lawrence Frank had dinner Tuesday night in LA with Knicks free agent center Kyle O’Quinn, per source. The two sides will continue to talk.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) July 4, 2018