Boston Celtics: B/R views Evan Fournier as C’s ‘biggest flight risk’

The entirety of the 2020-21 season has been a complete and utter disappointment for the Boston Celtics and their fanbase and, as we’re all now aware, the March 25th trade deadline didn’t sway away from this trend.

Coming in with their names linked to some of this year’s biggest available talents, the front office wound up making a few smaller deals, most notably the transaction with the Orlando Magic that landed them sharpshooting Frenchman, Evan Fournier.

While Danny Ainge has come out publically and stated that their intention is to re-sign the 28-year-old during 2021’s upcoming free agency period, the folks down at Bleacher Report are under the impression that a reunion between the two parties is by no means a guarantee.

In fact, writer Dan Favale went as far as to say the newly acquired Celtic should be viewed as the team’s ‘biggest flight risk’ this coming offseason.

B/R believes Evan Fournier is ‘biggest flight risk’ for the Boston Celtics

Despite holding the veteran’s Bird rights, B/R believes that the overall financial restrictions that the Boston Celtics have may make it a bit of a challenge to get a deal done in the offseason:

"Bringing back the 6’7″, 205-pounder is a no-brainer if money is no object. It might be. The Celtics are right up against next year’s luxury-tax line with all of their guaranteed contracts and the projected salary of their first-round pick.General manager Danny Ainge might have the green light to spend whatever, but he has to reconcile urgency with big-picture expenses. Boston isn’t getting any cheaper down the line, with both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum removed from rookie-scale deals.Matters will be further complicated by Fournier’s market. He might be due for a pay cut from his $17 million salary, but his offensive utility is aggressively plug-and-play. Someone who packs his scoring and playmaking punch and isn’t yet 30 should be able to land a multiseason pact that pays him well into eight figures annually."

The long-range marksman is having himself quite a nice season overall, as he’s posting 18.6 points and 3.4 assists per game on 46 percent shooting from the floor and 40 percent shooting from deep, however, his tenure in Boston has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, going 0-10 shooting in his debut and is averaging just 11.5 points and 1.8 assists in green and white.

While on the one hand, Fournier may prove to be too costly for Ainge and co. to try and re-sign anyway, should his level of play not return close to his Orlando level, money aside, they may simply not be interested in bringing him back.