The 2021 NBA Offseason has gone rather well for the Boston Celtics thus far, what with the fact that they’ve managed to clear up cap space via the Kemba Walker trade and the smart hire by the front office to make Ime Udoka the team’s next head coach.
Now, as we inch closer to the more entertaining dates on the summer schedule, fans of the franchise can look forward to hopefully seeing more triumphs from this team take place.
However, though they may be off to a solid start, this is not to say they won’t come across any hiccups or hardships between now and the kick-off to next season.
Perhaps the most complex task for the shamrocks this offseason will be pertaining to how they go about attacking the free-agent market and, most specifically, what they plan on doing with Evan Fournier.
Acquired at this year’s trade deadline, the 28-year-old wing is likely to find himself viewed by the organization as its top free-agent priority when it comes to the open market, but this does not mean he won’t be courted by, and potentially interested in other teams.
While we at HH are relatively confident the Cs will wind up re-signing the veteran (if they ultimately want to do so, that is), we believe there are 3 teams, in specific, that could wind up being major players in the Fournier sweepstakes:
Potential landing spot for Evan Fournier No. 1) Dallas Mavericks
Though the Dallas Mavericks held a 2-0 lead against the heavily favored Los Angeles Clippers in round one of this year’s postseason, ultimately they were unable to finish the series off as victors, for Luka Doncic was seemingly unable to get any substantial help from his cohorts.
This offseason will be one of the last for a while where the team’s front office will have ample coin at their disposal what with the fact that Doncic will almost certainly be inking a max extension in the near future, which means they should utilize their potential $34.4 million in cap space on players who can help a team win now.
Evan Fournier could be seen as a quality addition to have within the starting lineup running alongside their franchise cornerstone.
Not only is he coming off a quality regular season where he posted 17.1 points on 41 percent shooting from deep, but his production managed to roll right along into the postseason as well — something that cannot be said about many of Luka’s own teammates — as he averaged 15.4 points on 43 percent shooting from 3-point range during the first round for the Boston Celtics.
With ample cash at their disposal, coupled with the fact that this team’s core is still rather young and in need of some added talents, perhaps adding on a nine-year veteran like Fournier could be a strong option for the Mavs.