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The latest intel from SNY’s Ian Begley surrounding Evan Fournier’s messy situation with the New York Knicks cast a gloomy picture for the disgruntled veteran wing.
“I know that the [San Antonio Spurs] and the Knicks talked during the offseason about Fournier. I know some people at Spurs thought about the benefits of adding Fournier to the roster, but I think that the Knicks have been totally unwilling to attach any draft compensation to a Fournier deal. And so maybe that’s a sticking point there,” Begley said on the July 26 episode of the Orange and Blue Bloods podcast.
“… I think the Knicks are gonna have opportunities again, to move Fournier, but at this point, I don’t know, it just feels like they’re comfortable going into the season with him on the roster, out of the rotation and disgruntled.”
The Knicks are finding it difficult to grant Fournier’s wish for a fresh start away from New York and shed his $18.8 million salary for next season.
It will be an intriguing subplot next season if Fournier remains after his scathing remarks against the Knicks in a candid interview with Yann Ohnona from L’Equipe.
“You want to spit on everyone. You have hatred. Derrick Rose and I looked at each other and said to each other: ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ During the five-on-five practice, we were on the side like some prospects—uncool times. And when I realized that wouldn’t change, I took things more slowly,” Fournier told L’Equipe upon learning he was removed from the Knicks rotation last season.
He added he’d “be very surprised to be a Knick next [season].”
But he also blasts the team for killing his trade value.
Evan Fournier to Use World Cup as His Launchpad
The 31-year-old Fournier is looking forward to playing for France in the FIBA World Cup next month.
“I am impatient to play again, excited to come back to this team, the atmosphere, our headquarters in Pau, the practices, fighting for a goal. This season, for the first time, I had no goal and it felt strange,” he told L’Equipe.
“I want to live intense moments, feel like myself again. The French national team is important in my career. This World Cup will be my launchpad.”
It will be Fournier’s chance to improve his trade value after playing a career-low 27 games with the Knicks last season.
With No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama skipping the World Cup, all eyes will be on Fournier to power France alongside fellow NBA veterans Rudy Gobert and Nicolas Batum.
Fournier and France will open their World Cup campaign against his Knicks teammate RJ Barrett and Canada on Aug. 25 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Leon Rose Continues to Dodge Media
Knicks President Leon Rose continues to avoid the media after declining a request from The Athletic to hold a press conference following Donte DiVincenzo‘s free agent signing, according to the sports news outlet’s Knicks beat reporter Fred Katz.
The Knicks are also keeping DiVincenzo unavailable to reporters until the training camp in September, according to Katz.
Rose had not spoken to Knicks reporters since head coach Tom Thibodeau‘s virtual introductory presser more than two years ago at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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