Houston Rockets: 10 Bigs the Rockets could possibly target

5. Kyle O’Quinn

Philadelphia 76ers reserve Kyle O’Quinn has the size the Houston Rockets could certainly use, as he’s 6-foot-10 and weighs 250 pounds. Not only that, O’Quinn has the second-best defensive rating on the Sixers this season, which would be a welcome addition to Houston.

O’Quinn can hit the occasional 3-point shot, as he’s shooting 33.3 percent from downtown this season, and also averaging 11.6 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per 36 minutes. O’Quinn has a PER of 16.2 as well, but isn’t a major part of Philadelphia’s plans, as shown by his 10.3 minutes per contest. But Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni values veterans and the eight-year big man is the type of veteran that would endear him to MDA.

As O’Quinn has an outgoing salary of $1.6 million, it would be fairly easy for the Houston Rockets to land him because they could use their $1.6 million trade exception and possibly only have to part with a second-round draft pick. Philadelphia would certainly prefer a draft pick over a guy they aren’t playing that often, and they would be forced to take this offer because Quinn doesn’t have much value around the league.

On top of that, O’Quinn’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, so Philadelphia would surely prefer to receive some compensation for a player they were going to lose in the offseason anyway. The Rockets would be tempted by O’Quinn’s contract situation because they wouldn’t have any future ties to the 29-year-old beyond this season, which could come in handy for a front office that has made it known that they don’t want to pay the luxury tax.

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