Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press
Evan Fournier was traded for the second time in his career.
The Orlando Magic is reportedly sending Fournier to the Boston Celtics in exchange for two second-round draft picks, according to ESPN Adrian Wojnarowski.
This comes later Tim Bontemps ESPN reported in February that Fournier should “attract interest” because of the expiration of his contract. It makes sense for Magic to move it, since it’s programmed to hit Free agency after the 2020-21 season.
After all, Orlando is not a candidate for the realistic title and was able to save something in return for the ace before he potentially left for another team.
Fournier joined the league in 2012 as a first round pick for the Denver Nuggets. Denver switched him to Orlando after two seasons in which he was practically a non-factor, but he immediately turned the corner on the Magic’s rotation.
He averaged 12.0 points per game in 2014-15 and never averaged less than 15.1 points per game in any of his subsequent campaigns for the Eastern Conference team.
Fournier averages 19.7 points on 46.1 percent of shots, 3.7 assists and 2.9 rebounds per night this season as someone who can attack the defense outside the jump, defend multiple positions and hit from the outside, as evidenced by its 39.9 percent long distance clip from the previous station.
He is also in the midst of his peak at the age of 28 and is expected to remain productive for the foreseeable future if he stays with his new team until the end of the 2020-21 campaign.
While this may not be the biggest change in the negotiation deadline, Fournier is someone who can impact a playoff race or a series in the postseason with his ability to stay warm for stretching and scoring in a variety of ways.
He is an ideal secondary scorer who can take advantage of the spacing created by the attention of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker draw and continue presenting Orlando’s impressive numbers.
The Celtics have been pretty inconsistent for much of the season, but now they have another ace on the wing who must fill the scoring in a secondary role with so many talented teammates.