Boston Celtics: Jerami Grant’s price being too high led to Evan Fournier trade

Well, Boston Celtics fans, we have quite the butterfly effect on our hands here.

Apparently, if it weren’t for the price of Jerami Grant being too high at the trade deadline–which was recently revealed by The Athletic’s James Edwards III–Evan Fournier wouldn’t have landed in Boston for half a season before inking a free agent deal with the New York Knicks this past summer.

That opens up a slew of possibilities as to what else might not have happened had Grant been dealt to the Cs for multiple first round picks this past March instead of Fournier being acquired for multiple second round picks instead.

Would Danny Ainge still be the general manager? Would Brad Stevens still be roaming the sidelines as head coach of the Boston Celtics? Does Kemba Walker still get moved this offseason to acquire Al Horford?

From there, one could fairly wonder about whether or not Dennis Schroder, Josh Richardson, or Juancho Hernangomez would be wearing green as well.

Grant could have been a game-changer for the Cs had they acquired him at the trade deadline. In a career year, he finished the 2020-21 season with per-game averages of 22 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists to go along with 1.1 blocks and 0.6 steals on the defensive end.

Instead, they had Fournier for the stretch run. The Frenchman finished up with 13 points per game with a 44/46/71 shooting slash, seeing a dip in counting stats with an uptick in efficiency.

Would Grant have moved Boston past the fully healthy Brooklyn Nets had he been dealt to Beantown instead of staying put? Probably not. It would have been a closer series, though, with Grant being able to stick to Kevin Durant defensively.

It’s all water under the bridge now, though. Grant will now be teaming with Cade Cunningham in Detroit, and we may not hear his name in any more rumors if the Pistons can make good on their potential in 2021-22 and beyond.