Boston Celtics: 2 free agency mishaps from first week of action

Boston Celtics mishap No. 1) Not pushing hard for a Fournier sign-and-trade

Last offseason, the Boston Celtics landed themselves the largest Traded Player Exception in NBA history when they wound up striking a sign-and-trade deal that sent Gordon Hayward to the Charlotte Hornets.

Valued at $27.5 million, as soon as this luxury was acquired hope for a major move being made by the team was rather high amongst their fanbase.

At March’s trade deadline, about $17 million of the exception was used on veteran sharpshooter, Evan Fournier, who found himself boasting averages of close to 20 points a game on 46 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep during the final year of his deal.

Viewed as a long-term asset by, then, President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge, it was said that they did not trade for him just to be a rental but, rather, for him to “be here for a long time.”

Ultimately, he only wound up lasting a grand total of 21 games in Beantown before signing a 4-year, $78 million deal with the New York Knicks thus, in turn, having them use about 62 percent of their historic TPE on what they specifically stated they wished to not have happen.

While it was never a guarantee that the front office and Fournier would come to terms on a deal this offseason, in the midst of negations it was reported that the 28-year-old was very interested in re-upping with the Boston Celtics and, even after, stated his priority was to come to terms on a new deal with the team (subscription required), for he felt he owed them “because they traded for me and I felt good while I was there.”

Now listen, we understand that the C’s decision-makers may have wanted to make way for future financial flexibility and, because of this, opted to not adhere to Fournier’s desired salary requests.

That said, perhaps they could have used this apparent loyalty by Fournier in a different way — an agreement to take part in a sign-and-trade, perhaps?

The wing himself stated that there were many options for him on the open market this summer, so even if he would need to be attained by means of this sort of transaction there very well could have still been a decently sized market for him.

Getting something, anything in exchange for Fournier would have been ideal this summer (a second-rounder, a mere role player such as Kevin Knox, etc.)

Instead, the Boston Celtics wound up with nothing but questions on their decision to deal for the shooting guard in the first place, and “what ifs” in regard to players they potentially could have targeted instead.