Knicks Prediction Sees Trade Involving $73 Million Sharpshooter

For the better part of the past year, rumors have been rapidly circulating suggesting that the New York Knicks have desires to part ways with veteran Evan Fournier.

Though nothing has yet to transpire on this front, Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey predicts that a trade will wind up taking place during this year’s free agency period where the wing finally heads outbound.

“Many thought Evan Fournier might be traded ahead of the 2023 deadline, but he remained a New York Knick through their second-round loss to the Miami Heat. This summer, though, they’ll actually make the move. Fournier’s contract ends in 2025, but that last season is a team option. It’s essentially an expiring contract right now. And with the new collective bargaining agreement likely to change the courses of a few teams, someone will be interested in that deal and the future flexibility it brings,” Bailey wrote.

Evan Fournier came to the Knicks two offseasons ago via sign-and-trade with the Boston Celtics, agreeing to a four-year, $73 million pact with the franchise.

Following his inaugural 2021-22 campaign in New York where he set the franchise record for most 3-pointers made in a single season, Quentin Grimes managed to steal Fournier’s starting gig during early stages of 2022-23.

He would eventually go on to lose a spot within the rotation entirely, seeing just 27 games of action during his second season.

Should his tenure with the Knicks soon be coming to an end as Bailey predicts, he will be leaving the Big Apple after posting averages of 12.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while shooting 37.7% from deep.

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Knicks Tried to Send Evan Fournier to Jazz

Back in late May, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reported that the Knicks had engaged the Jazz at the 2022 deadling in trade negotiations regarding the concept of Evan Fournier being swapped in a package for then Utah members Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt.

“The Knicks were another team that called about Beasley, sources said, attempting to land Beasley and [Jarred] Vanderbilt in a deal that would have sent out Evan Fournier. New York also eyed Beasley in 2020, when he was a restricted free agent, and that was before Gersson Rosas, then the Minnesota Timberwolves president who awarded Beasley a four-year, $60 million contract, joined the Knicks as a senior basketball adviser,” Fischer wrote.

Of course, no such deal wound up materializing, as the Los Angeles Lakers ultimately wound up swooping in and nabbed both Beasley and Vanderbilt instead.

However, despite the dissolution of the deal, perhaps the Jazz could prove to be an interested party for Evan Fournier’s services once more this offseason, as their team’s CEO of basketball operations in Danny Ainge has ties with the wing dating back to both of their tenures with the Celtics back in 2021.

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3 Teams Highlighted as Landing Spots for Derrick Rose

According to a report made by The Athletic’s Fred Katz on June 24, the Knicks have opted to decline their $15.6 million option on Derrick Rose’s third and final year under contract for the 2023-24 season.

Despite the fact that the 2010-11 NBA MVP has played in only 53 games over the past two seasons combined, Steve Popper of Newsday suggests that there are three teams, in particular, who could prove to be viable landing spots for his services.

“There are contending teams — the Lakers, Suns, and Celtics or even a return to his hometown Bulls — who could have minutes available at point guard for Rose. He is healthy and has adjusted his game, becoming more of a three-point threat in recent years,” Popper wrote via Twitter.

Derrick Rose is slated to become a free agent after having posted per-game averages of 11.6 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 45.0% from the field and 37.3% from deep over the past three seasons, a majority of which was spent with the Knicks.

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