Boston Celtics: Why an Evan Fournier trade is possible until July

The Boston Celtics could get a mulligan of sorts from last summer when they facilitated French guard Evan Fournier–acquired at the 2021 NBA trade deadline for two second-round picks and Jeff Teague–going to the New York Knicks last July in a sign-and-trade.

That sign-and-trade created a $17.1 million traded player exception that the Cs passed on using during this past February 10th’s trade deadline, but Boston’s front office could use it before it expires on July 18th.

Apparently, the man that they can use the Fournier TPE to absorb into their payroll is the very same one they traded away in order to create it in the first place. That’s right: Fournier could actually be re-acquired using his own TPE.

Spotrac’s expert cap tracker, Keith Smith, revealed on CelticsBlog the specifics of how and when such a deal could be executed:

"“Normally, teams are restricted from re-acquiring a player they traded away for one year. Because Fournier’s sign-and-trade happened in-between seasons, that restriction only carried through the prior season, not the prior league year. So, yes, Boston could trade for Fournier via the TPE that was created for him in the first place.”"

The Boston Celtics are unlikely to trade for Evan Fournier

Truthfully, there are better ways of spending the Fournier TPE than on Evan Fournier. The French guard did shoot efficiently (39%) on 7.7 3-point attempts per game with the New York Knicks this past season, but has not been able to match his production while with the Orlando Magic anywhere else.

That lends credence to the thought that Fournier’s numbers tend to be better when being featured on a non-contender. While the Magic did make the postseason in 2019 and 2020, they had just two wins between the pair of first-round gentleman’s sweeps.

Fournier is a fine third or fourth scoring option on a contender, but he gets paid like a No. 2 star while ranking in the top 75 in NBA player salaries. If Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens wanted Wyc Grousbeck to be the one writing the checks, he could have made it happen when he had the chance to last summer.

That he didn’t, and that Fournier proceeded to have his fourth-worst PPG output of his decade-long NBA career, likely means that the Knicks will have to look elsewhere if they want to offload the 29-year-old’s contract.