I've said it before and I'll say it again. I think Kyle O'Quinn would be a good target for us. He's going to be a restricted free agent this offseason, but with Vucevic and Frye making it $19 mil between the two of them and the fact that Gordon and Harris can swing over to play PF, how much are they willing to spend to keep O'Quinn? My thinking is that we could be able to pry him away with a decent offer.
He's a good size big (6'10" & 240 lbs) with excellent length (7'4.75" wingpsan). His size and athleticism give him the ability to guard PFs and Cs in this league which is definitely a plus next to Cousins. Not to mention he's the same age as Cousins so they should be going into their primes at roughly the same time.
As far as his play and how it meshes with our team, he seems like he would be a great fit.
He is a good shooter who shot 69% from the FT line last year and he also hits midrange jumpers at a great rate for a big man (51% from 10-16 ft and 41% from 16ft-3pt line). This will help space the floor when Cousins and Gay are operating down low.
He's a great rebounder. Per36, he averages 11.2 RPG for his career. With a frontcourt of Cousins, O'Quinn, and Gay, we should be able to dominate the boards night in and night out.
He's a great passer for a big man, who averages (per36) 2.6 APG for his career. Having both Cousins and O'Quinn finding people should only make it that much easier to find people for easy buckets.
His defense is also pretty good as well. He's strong enough to hold position down low, but also nimble enough to stay with his man. Not to mention he averages 2.3 BPG and 1 SPG per36 for his career. He should be able to defend the better of the opposing teams two bigs and also provide rim protection to help cement our interior defense. Two guys with 7'5" wingspans in the paint should cause all sorts of trouble.
With Cousins operating down low (posting up/drawing double teams/finding slashers) and O'Quinn at the opposite, high elbow (waiting to knock down an open jumper/quickly finding an open man when it comes his way), I think they could be a very good duo offensively. With O'Quinn defending the better big man, providing rim protection and steals and with Cousins providing help defense, charges, rim protection, and steals, they could be a very solid defensive frontcourt as they continue to develop and enter their primes.
With the extension of Gay, that will leave us with approximately $10 mil in cap room. That should be more than enough to pry O'Quinn away from the Magic. From there, we can trade Thompson for a solid backup center and a perimeter player to come off the bench.
Collison/Sessions/McCallum
McLemore/Stauskas
Gay
O'Quinn/Landry
Cousins
*possibly include our first rounder (depending on where we finish in the standings)
*possibly include Casspi and Evans if we can sign them for a vet min
*possily include a backup SG/SF and backup C if we can trade Thompson in the offseason
