Boston Celtics: Does Evan Fournier push this team to contention?

After ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news on the Evan Fournier trade, Boston Celtics fans breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, a trade of substance had been made by General Manager, Danny Ainge. Most were happy, some were not. Some thought the TPE could have been used for a better player, which may be correct but it wouldn’t have happened this season.

With just two second-round picks — and later added Jeff Teague — heading to Orlando, that means it is all TPE, and no salary match. $17 million was used on Fournier, leaving $11 million unused.

Many fans question if it was a forced deal; if Ainge felt pressured to make a move and pulled the trigger, and his comments didn’t help:

"I guess the greatest pressure is just — I wanted our players to feel hope and I want our coach to feel hope. I sensed some discouragement internally with our guys. That was one reason why we did something now as opposed to waiting somewhere down the road."

He is blatantly admitting to the pressures he felt as being a reason for why the deal was made. Now, perhaps not a bad type of “pressure” — not a pressure from fans — but, rather, from the team.

As Ainge made comments about how the Cs aren’t good enough to contend for a championship, I’m sure it resonated with the players. The players most likely felt Ainge had little faith and was going to write off this season.

However, it surely was not a bad deal, as Fournier is a solid player, but it does beg the question… does this acquisition of Fournier “push the needle” towards contention?

Is Evan Fournier the needle mover this Boston Celtics team needs?

It’s a layered question, that will receive a layered answer. Fournier helps for sure, as he is probably a top five bench player in the league, coming to a team with a bottom-three bench.

His debut with the Boston Celtics was…disappointing, to say the very least.

He posted a total of zero points on 0-10 shooting from the field and 0-5 from deep. I’m not worried about him, he’s a great player and he was getting good looks all night, just some first game bad luck.

Fournier has posted averages of 19.7 points, and 3.7 assists per game, on 39 percent shooting from deep and a 60 percent true shooting percentage, 3 percent above league average.

The shooting guard is also a serviceable defender, with his 6-7 frame he is able to grab steals and is a good on-ball defender.

Whether he starts or comes off the bench, he is going to be playing big minutes as Brad Stevens eluded to:

"He’ll be a high minutes player. And, you know, we’re certainly going to count on him to do what he does. I think it’s been pretty evident that bench scoring, whatever form it comes in, whether he’s off the bench or the others off the bench, is a necessity. And so I think that that’ll be a real positive, and we’re excited that he’s joining us."

I think we all share the same excitement Brad does, as Fournier is a pretty substantial addition to the squad. The 28-year-old can play a Hayward-esque role for the Cs, being a good scoring option but also a solid creator for others.

While he is a great player, this team has a substantial amount of holes, that of which Fournier himself does not fix in its entirety. We still lack great playmaking, we still seemingly lack heart and drive, and depth is still very suspect.

So to answer the question of contention, I’d say no.

However, this is not to say Boston cant turn it around, as we have seen the type of basketball this team can produce at their best.

Most of the development to contention is going to come from within. This team needs to find it’s heart and soul at the end of games. They need to focus on ball movement, when the team gets at least 25 assists they are a staggering 14-3.

Cut down on the isolation, — the coaching staff needs to stress movement and creating for others and not just themselves. By doing these things, this team can start stringing together some winning basketball and let the league know they are not a .500 team at heart.

Right now is the perfect opportunity, as the Boston Celtics have seven-straight home games, with just one back-to-back along the way. Fournier was in health-and-safety protocols but is listed as questionable tonight which is a great sign.

They should have a mostly healthy squad for his home-stretch, and they need to make good use of it.