12:27am: The Fournier trade is now official, according to an announcement from the Magic (via Twitter).
9:07pm: The draft picks headed to Orlando in the trade are the Celtics’ own 2027 second-rounder and whichever pick is the least favorable of the Celtics’ and Grizzlies’ 2025 second-rounders, reports Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link).
2:36pm: The Celtics will also send Jeff Teague to Orlando in their trade for Fournier, according to Josh Robbins and Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Since Teague is on a minimum-salary contract, the value of the Magic’s $17MM+ trade exception generated by moving Fournier will remain the same.
Teague has been told he doesn’t have to report to Orlando and will be released by the Magic, Robbins adds.
10:34am: The Celtics are finalizing a deal to land shooting guard Evan Fournier from the Magic in exchange for two second-round picks, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Since it appears Boston isn’t sending any sizeable salaries to Orlando in return, the Celtics will use part of their $28.6MM trade exception to take on Fournier’s expiring contract.
Fournier carries a $17.15MM cap hit that will be adjusted to $17.45MM once the deal is complete, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. The increase involves bonuses, as Fournier has incentives for reaching the second round of the playoffs and the conference finals, which are both now considered likely since the Celtics did so last season.
Boston doesn’t have a roster opening, so another move will be necessary before the trade can be finalized. Marks adds that the deal puts the Celtics $1.6MM over the luxury tax, so Boston could include a low-priced contract in the trade to address both issues.
The Magic would create a $17.15MM trade exception if they’re not acquiring any players in the deal (or if they only take on a minimum-salary contract).
Fournier, 28, is in his ninth NBA season and his seventh with the Magic. He’s averaging a career-best 19.7 points per game and shooting 38.8% from three-point range in advance of unrestricted free agency.
The Celtics were previously said to be in serious contention to land Aaron Gordon from Orlando in addition to Fournier, but Gordon is reportedly headed to Denver.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Orlando is selling hard (and bad) lol
And Raptors
What did raps do? They should have traded for Vucevic!
The vucevic trade was a good one but 2 seconds for Fournier is awful
He is a free agent so the deal is not bad for Orlando. if nobody offers a 1st rounder you go for 2 second rounders.
I find hard to believe that offer was the best one for Fournier. Also thought that Vucevic’s trade was kind of a L for Orlando
Why? They got 2 bad teams 1sts and wcj
They’re not that bad if they pick up a good player. Those picks just moved into the teens.
Chicago is a playoff team right now. The picks will probaly be in mid 20s. And WCJ is kinda injury prone and a expiring contract (i guess)
They aren’t getting past 1st round if they do make the playoffs so the pick should be late teens early 20s at worst plus this is the magic that gave over 100 mil combined in extensions to 2 hurt guys in fultz and Isaac so if Carter Jr has injury problems magic prolly like him more
I was supposed to say early 20s, my mistake guys
Really thinking Mid 20’s for both of those picks? Carter is signed thru next season, and then Magic can match any offer for him…amazing how many people have no idea but comment on here
Celtics can basically absorb Fournier’s contract without having to send a big contract back. Could definitely see other teams trying to offload a big contract or a non-expiring deal to offset some of the costs. If that’s true, then it becomes a valuation between cap space or a potential first round pick (that would likely be protected or a late first anyway).
As a raptors fan, I dislike this trade since it will set the market for a Powell trade return,which now seems to be weaker than it would of been a few hours ago.
Powell for Bamba & Ennis? Powell & Stanley for Bagley & Jabari?
Go magic go!
Are they trading Isaac and Ross as well? Massive rebuild going on in Orlando. About time they did. Only so far you can go with Vuc as your best player
It’s be surprising if that trade Isaac, he is still young and be a part of the rebuild. Isaac and Carter as the future front court.
Not so sure about Carter in that equation…
Nah, it’ll be a while before they punt on Isaac. If he hadn’t gotten injured, Gordon probably would have been traded last off season.
Agree on Isaac, who is injured anyway. But they should deal Ross if possible too, as the sixth man thing has not turned out, nor is he looked to to start, and he can still impress a GM athletically.
lol I think not the first time Lionel has opined on Vuc negatively! Not wrong though… may not have been a good influence regarding working on self vs team. Could impact Chicago well though.
Vuc is better as the #2 or #3 on a team. Issac is who they will build around, I don’t see Disney Land trading him.
I know he is free agent at end of year , but he is solid player , they getitng him for free . Still no center
As an organization and or a player. Why would you want to play and trust Danny Ainge?
Cause you get paid to play and Celtics are a good team….you can kind of say that about any GM…
Yet they always need more help???
Every team trades players. What are you talking about? lol
When the other option is playing for the Magic, the answer is yes.
I wish mavs got him. Maybe ee beat denver for gordon
Good deal for the Celtics. Their bench was straight up trash.
Vucevic woulda been a much better get for Boston, they don’t really need another wing that likes to shoot, but at least it’s something for Boston. You gotta think Gordon has already packed his bags, Orlando cleanin house.
Ainge was too cheap to trade two first rounders.
Not sure Celtics had a young player on Carter’s level to offer…
Carter’s level?
Carter was supposed to be a shooter as well as big; neither happened; tweener.
They actually desperately needed “another wing that likes to shoot”. They lack wing depth and need bench scoring badly.
Not sure this will make Boston much better, but knowing Ainge this deal was cheap.
Well, it said two second-round picks. You don’t have to guess.
It didn’t say that when I commented.
It did.
To be fair, articles are updated all the time after initial post….the 2nds probably weren’t included in the first draft
It was included in the first draft.
If you keep commenting on all my stuff, I’m going to think you have feelings for me.
I do.
This means Javonte Green never ever has to see the court again. Its a win.
He might get cut to make space for Fournier…already at 15 roster spots…although Green’s dunks are entertaining
I guess it’s good value but idk how much fournier is going to help the front court. that seems to be the more glaring issue for boston right now.
Fournier is a nice player and the Celtics desperately needed another guy that can score. I still don’t see how much he moves the needle though.
Top three Celts are already wings. I doubt Fournier stays there. (Sorry Kems)
This
Stevens believes in positionless basketball.
Not so many talking about positionless anymore, for good reason.
Stevens is one of Boston’s problems IMO.
But these were not top-3’s points. Celtic decisions are made from a positionless vantage, so will not please position fans…
And thus (so far) wasting Tatum, Brown & Smart.
yup. said the same in another article — is stevens going to close games with kemba/smart/brown/tatum/fournier? unless smart grows four inches i doubt it
not to pour water on boston getting a good player for essentially free. but it doesnt seem like this is addressing the more pressing needs of the team.
An offensive weapon who can create their own shot was one of the most pressing needs. It’s not a big step, but it is in the right direction.
… Freedoms given Fournier may have Tatum & Brown asking questions.
Moritz Wagner may be the keeper for them! (Fournier UFA)
Send Aaron Gordon with him please.
Terrence Ross should start packing his bags as well. Could see the Clips, Lakers, Heat, Nets or Knicks all trading for him.
Evan Fournier outside shooting and scoring will give the Celtics a huge boost.
I think this could bring back a Hayward-style to their offense. Worth a shot for the price. Fournier shoots the lights out, plays beyond his athletic limitations. Nuggets chose to ride it out with Gary Harris instead of him 6 years ago!
Fournier is almost as good as Hayward and will play the same role in their offense, so yeah, this isn’t too much different than if Hayward picked up his player option, but still a bit worse.
Almost as good as Hayward?
Stop.
Bitter much?
Good to see the feelings last. A bit of randomness is okay.
Hayward’s the better player but for what Boston asked him to do Fournier will probably be able to fill the shoes decently enough
Not sure about the Orlando trades. Agree with trading the players, just not sure if they’re getting enough back. Collecting draft picks is great, provided you draft well and have a competent front office, which I’d say is questionable.
Like the coach and his staff, do not have confidence in ownerships ability to manage, the management. Ownership obviously relies on consultants to hire management. Got short changed on the last one… Common scenario in the business world.
No fan of Orlando’s FO, but this year GMs don’t seem to value other team’s players very much.
GMs want “transcendence” and will settle for future firsts.
Not even spellcheck will take on transcendence!
How the hell did Fournier only net the same return as JaVale McGee?
Absurdly stupid move by ORL.
Who offered more?
Cavs best deadline deal woo! Now about the scale of it…
Fire ainge now… trade smart to GS for pick, walker for picks.. ainge has no idea how to put together a wining team. All he does is sign shooters, they aren’t going to win by going to the line 10x..
Yeah, I mean who even needs shooters in today’s NBA?
Shooters? How overrated, as evidenced by the Cs (and lots of other teams) getting scorched nightly by guys splashing threes from everywhere. Fournier makes sense, provides more spacing and bench scoring, both glaring needs. But the offense needs to operate more efficiently and side-to-side. And the Jays need to play a bit more under control (btw they could EACH get to the line 10x with more frequent aggressive dribble-drives). We’ll see, but they’re going all in with TT and Time Lord as their bigs, so those two need to seriously deliver for this to fall into place.
Unbelievably bad trade by Orlando. GSW blew it SO hard if this is all they needed….
Solid pick up for Boston if they can extend him. He can play but the deal is a win now deal with the entire conference losing steam. what with Embiid’s injury history and all 4 of the Net’s star’s hurt just making the playoffs could be enough to win the Conference. Question is whether Fournier’s skills are not already provided by Tatum and Brown? Obviously the Hayward deal hurt Boston more than we thought it would. But is a 30 game rental worth this much hassle? Have to wonder if the entire East should aim to rebuild. That Said if Embiid is healthy the 76er’s are the the team to beat.
if it keeps the ball out of Smarts hands, offensively, I’m ok with this. wish they had gotten a big though. or at least see what Williams can do.
2 seconds is fine, probably a bargain but using the TPE for him is awful! Myles Turner and a 1st or Fournier for a few months? Ugh.
What a pathetic move by doofus Danny to waste 17+ of the tpe money he should be fired right now
I’m shocked Boston actually completed a trade! They can definitely use Fournier’s shooting; Marcus Smart has been dreadful this year shooting the ball. Move Smart back the bench and insert Evan into the starting lineup. They really need his offensive talent.
Bring him off the bench. Need the shooting v. Opponent’s 2nd team and for Smart to lock down their starters on D while Brown and Tatum shoot.
Magic get two picks, Teague, and PET 17 mill to use next yr. For money coming off books they did not want to spend. I like Fournier a lot. I’m surprised they didn’t get more. Or that my Knicks weren’t in on this considering the price. Makes me think Knicks have something else in play.
Fournier is a guaranteed 20 pts for Celtics. They can start him when they go small. He will still get 30 mins even as sixth man. Imo Celtics missed out on McGee. A rim protector is what they need now. Will they really resign Fournier???? Guess it depends on their playoff run. Still it’s a good move for now. And imo they got him cheap.
With Teague being waived, the Bucks should be a great fit. With Augustin gone, MKE could really use an actual backup point guard.
Good call
He got waived wow …. yeah I agree Bucks should be on this.
The Magic are pretty much the EPITOME of “you can’t tell the players without a program just now…
Hi Arthur,
Can you remove one of the word ‘are’ in tne sentence? You put ‘are’ twice. Please & thank you!
“The Celtics ‘are are’ finalizing a deal to land shooting guard Evan Fournier from the Magic in exchange for two second-round picks, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski”.
Fixed, thanks.
Wow what a circle. We get a former player and end up loosing Daniel theis through another trade…ouch
Powell was a 6M much better fit for the C’s and they could have kept Theis …