Despite having two more years left on his contract with the final year being a team option, it appears as if Evan Fournier's time with the New York Knicks is coming to an end. After falling out of the Knicks' rotation during the 2022-23 season and claiming that he has no relationship with head coach Tom Thibodeau, New York has expressed their desire to teams around the league to trade the veteran sharpshooter this offseason.
The 30-year-old French wing has always been a steady three-point shooter over the course of his now 11-year NBA career, as he's shot 37.9 percent from deep in 672 career games. This is why a handful of teams could show interest in Fournier ahead of the start of the new season.
According to SNY's Ian Begley, there are a few teams that could very well make the playoffs showing trade interest in Fournier and the San Antonio Spurs have also been linked to him as well. The path to the Spurs possibly trading for the veteran is a little rocky though, especially given other deals they have made this offseason.
As a result of them being willing to take on larger contracts for future compensation, San Antonio no longer has a lot of cap space. As Begley notes, this means that they would need to send salary back to New York in order to facilitate a deal for Fournier.
It is clear that the Knicks do not want to attach draft compensation to any trade involving Fournier either, which could complicate things since it is not easy to move a near $19 million contract at this point in the summer. From the Spurs' perspective though, they could make a trade for Fournier work depending on what type of player the Knicks would want to receive for him.
Reggie Bullock, Cedi Osman and Cam Payne are all veteran, “win-now” type of talents San Antonio acquired in different trades this offseason and they could look to move again for draft picks or other talents such as Fournier. It is worth mentioning that all three of these players are entering the final year of their respective contracts and will be unrestricted free agents in 2024.
As a result of Bullock, Osman and Payne being on the move recently though, they cannot be traded again until two months after the date in which they were traded this offseason. This means Osman cannot be moved until September 4, Bullock on Sept. 10 and Payne on Sept. 15. Devonte' Graham is another player to keep an eye on that San Antonio could look to move on from at some point in the next year, as Graham has two more years left on his contract.
San Antonio eyeing Fournier should not come as a surprise, as he would provide immediate shooting depth on the wing and would have an instant connection with recent first overall pick Victor Wembanyama given that they are both professional players from France. In a recent interview with L'Equipe, Fournier even stated that playing with Wembanyama on the Spurs “would be great.”
At this point, the Knicks do not have a deal lined up this offseason to trade Fournier, but they do seem very motivated to find a trade partner before the start of the new season. It will be interesting to see where he ultimately ends up, especially if he begins the season in New York.
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