Summary

O'Quinn recently turned 30, and teams will be skeptical about signing an aging big that can't stretch the floor with his outside shooting. The 76ers were hoping he could be a solid third big to play behind Joel Embiid and Al Horford, but he has not played well in his limited minutes, and has essentially fallen out of the rotation. Despite being limited athletically, O'Quinn has been near the top of the league in block rate almost his entire career. He may not exactly be Rudy Gobert in terms of rim protection, but being able to block shots without chasing too many blocks is a valuable skill.

 

O'Quinn may not wow anyone, but if he can convince teams that he can get back to being a reliable backup, he may be able to extend his NBA career.

 

Cap Considerations

O'Quinn will be an unrestricted free agent with a $1.6 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. This means that the highest starting salary the 76ers could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is $2.8 million. This could be enough to retain O'Quinn since he settled for the minimum of $2.2 million to come to Philadelphia. Alternatively, the 76ers could use their Mid-Level Exception to re-sign O'Quinn if he demands more than $2.8 million.

 

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign O'Quinn as even teams without cap space could possibly use any of the Non-Taxpayer, Taxpayer, or Room Mid-Level Exceptions to sign him. Since he signed a minimum contract this summer, teams will hope to get him at the minimum next summer too.

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