Boston Celtics: Evan Fournier ranked 3rd best free agent forward

The Boston Celtics are a team looking to bounce back next year after finishing with their worst regular-season record since 2014-15 and enduring their first Quarterfinals loss in the playoffs since 2015-16.

Generally speaking, when a team endures such a disappointing campaign like the one the Cs did in 2020-21, their front office looks to the offseason as a way to try and bring on new talents in an effort to bolster the roster, be it by means of trade, the NBA Draft, or free agency.

Sadly, however, when it comes to Boston’s summer circuit, they’re almost guaranteed a rather quiet few months, for they have little trade assets at their disposal, lost their first-round pick in the Kemba Walker deal, and have minimal money to use on the open market thanks to their over-inflated payroll.

That said, just because challenges stand in the way between them making some big splashes this offseason, this is not to say it will be impossible for them to land one of the top-billed names available.

In fact, as things currently stand, in this August’s free agency period the Boston Celtics are one of the favorites to sign Evan Fournier who, according to Bleacher Report, is viewed as the third best forward available.

Citing his stellar production over the past couple of seasons, writer Andy Bailey is under the impression that, outside of the likes of DeMar DeRozan (2) and Kawhi Leonard (1), the French-born baller is the best grab for a wing-hungry team this summer:

"Over his last two seasons with the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics, Fournier has averaged 18.0 points, 3.3 assists and 2.7 threes while shooting 40.4 percent from three.He’s not a Duncan Robinson-level floor-spacer and doesn’t have the point forward potential of Talen Horton-Tucker, but he brings a little bit of both.He also has nearly a decade of experience, including four playoff runs (albeit, short runs).Teams in need of scoring should be interested."

Prior to being traded to the Boston Celtics at this year’s deadline, Evan Fournier was seeing impressive numbers of nearly 20 points per night (19.7) on an efficient 46 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep.

Now, while his scoring numbers did in fact dip a bit once being dealt to Beantown — 13 points per game –, this was to be expected as he was now finding himself sharing the offensive load with three other dominant scorers rather than just one while he was in Orlando.

However, his efficiency as a shooter while with the Cs was undeniably stellar, as he converted on 43 percent of his twos, 46 percent of his threes, and boasted a whopping 75 percent efficient field goal percentage on catch-and-shoot attempts.

Though the Celtics are by no means “flush with cash” this summer, Brad Stevens and co. will be able to shell out as much money as they deem fit in order to re-sign him (should they wish to, that is) without having the contract push them into the luxury tax thanks to the fact that they own Fournier’s Bird rights.

This offseason, the shamrocks will be in the running to land the third-best forward in free agency, and we at HH believe, unless they can somehow snag someone better, re-upping with the sharpshooting veteran should be a major priority for them.