Thu, Jul 9, 2015 at 2:12am

KNICKS NET UNDERRATED BIG MAN O'QUINN

In a sign-and-trade deal, the New York Knicks acquired center-power forward Kyle O'Quinn from the Orlando Magic for cash and the right to swap 2nd-round draft picks with New York in 2019.

What does it give the New York Knicks
This is an under-the-radar steal for a Knicks organization in major need of quality rotation players. Over the past couple of seasons in limited minutes, O'Quinn has quietly emerged as one of the NBA's most bruising and underrated young post players. He's an excellent rim protector, rebounder, and defender and has untapped offensive skills too. It won't be surprising if O'Quinn wins New York's starting center job in the coming campaign and runs with it.

What does it give the Orlando Magic
Down the road the Magic will probably regret moving O'Quinn, but they can use his salary to help lock up some of their several other promising young players. Orlando's glut of gifted frontcourt talent necessitated this move, but at least the Magic gets something in return for helping O'Quinn get a maximum salary commitment from his new team in New York.

Fantasy impact
Following this deal O'Quinn should be placed squarely on the fantasy sleeper radar for the 2015-16 season. He has the raw goods to be an above-average NBA starting center, and it won't be a shocker if he sees major minutes on a mostly young and rebuilding squad. His arrival probably limits the minutes for top rookie Kristaps Porzingis, but that's not a bad thing (since Porzingis needs time to put on bulk and learn the NBA game). On the Orlando side of things not much changes fantasy-wise, since O'Quinn wasn't seeing significant playing time with the Magic.