Celtics May Not Be Able to Use the Evan Fournier Trade Exception

When the Boston Celtics signed and traded Evan Fournier to the New York Knicks on August 17, 2021, they received nothing from New York outside of cash considerations, thus creating a trade exception the size of the first year of Fournier’s new contract. According to Spotrac, the first year of Fournier’s contract totaled $17,142,857 this season. By creating an exception that large, the Celtics were permitted to trade for a player who was paid for that amount or less by August 17, 2022.

However, how much of that exception they could use all depended on their salary cap. An Eastern Conference executive recently told Heavy that because of Boston’s salary cap situation this summer, they won’t be able to use that full exception unless they cut ties with one of their big contracts like Al Horford.

“They can’t use the Fournier TPE unless they create some room, really,” The executive said. “They’re going to be over the tax and right around the tax apron and that is basically a hard cap for them. So they have $17 million to use on that TPE but really, they can only use as much as they are under the apron. They can get further under the apron if they waive Horford, but I don’t think anyone sees that happening now. It is a big chip and I think they planned to use it until they started playing this way. I’d say they’ve pretty much given up on using it.”

Horford has been valuable to the Celtics during these playoffs. In the 15 games he’s played in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, Horford has averaged 12.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.7 blocks. Those averages may not even tell the whole story of how good Horford has been for Boston in the playoffs knowing the players Boston has assigned Al to cover, like Giannis Antetokoumnpo.

Dropping him to utilize that exception to its fullest would seem foolish seeing how there probably isn’t a player out there being paid $17 million or less (who’s not on a rookie contract) that could provide more value on the floor for Boston than Horford that’s available to acquire.

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Al Horford’s Contract Situation For Next Year

When Horford originally agreed to his four-year contract with the Philadelphia 76ers back in 2019, the last year of his contract came with some clauses.

According to Spotrac, Horford’s salary in the last year of his deal all depends on how the team he plays for does in the first three years of the contract.

-If Horford’s team failed to make the NBA Finals in the first three years of his deal, the fourth year of his contract would only have a partial guarantee of $14.5 million dollars.
-If Horford’s team made the NBA Finals at least once in the first three years of his deal, that partial guarantee on the last year of his deal would be bumped up to $19.5 million.
-If Horford’s team wins at least one NBA championship in the first three years of his deal, the fourth year of his contract is fully guaranteed at $26.5 million.

Horford is currently in the third of those three years. Even if the Celtics don’t make the 2022 NBA Finals, it’s hard to see a scenario where Boston wouldn’t fully guarantee Horford’s contract this upcoming offseason knowing how well he’s played for them this season.

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Boston’s Other Trade Exceptions

It appears unlikely the Celtics will use the Evan Fournier Trade Exception in full knowing their salary cap situation. However, Boston still has multiple trade exceptions at their disposal that they could use in full without having to move any pieces or having to move smaller pieces.

According to Spotrac, the Celtics currently have the following trade exceptions in addition to Evan Fournier’s to use as of May 26, 2022.

-Moses Brown ($500,000, expires June 27, 2022)
-Tristan Thompson ($1,440,549, expires July 7, 2022)
-Juancho Hernangomez ($6,907,815, expires January 19, 2023)
-Enes Freedom ($1,669,178, expires February 10, 2023)
-Bruno Fernando ($1,782,162, expires February 10, 2023)
-Dennis Schroder ($5,890,000, expires February 10, 2023)
-Bol Bol ($2,151,220, expires February 10, 2023)
-PJ Dozier ($1,910,860, expires February 10, 2023)

Thompson’s trade exception originally totaled out to $9,720,900 in full when they traded him to the Sacramento Kings last summer. When the Celtics re-acquired Daniel Theis from the Houston Rockets on February 10, 2022, Adam Himmelsbach reported that Theis was absorbed into Thompson’s exception, meaning that Schroder, Freedom, and Fernando were traded to Houston in a separate deal. That is how Boston then created multiple trade exceptions from those three.

Those exceptions aren’t nearly as big as Fournier’s, but they are assets the Celtics could use this summer to add to their rotation.

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