Ex-Celtics Guard Rips Knicks, Floats Interest In Joining West Team

Evan Fournier feels he’s officially reached his breaking point with the New York Knicks.

Fournier, who played with the Boston Celtics in 2020-21, had a rough go with the Knicks last season, claiming he’d be traded by New York this offseason. The 30-year-old veteran played just 17 minutes a night, the lowest Fournier has played since his rookie year with the Orlando Magic, and he’s had enough.

“If you want to trade me with a good return, why didn’t you use me? I was coming out of a season where I was the fourth-best 3-point shooter in the league,” Fournier told L’Equipe, according to basketballnews.com. “Why not take advantage of it? Now they won’t get anything interesting and that’s normal because I couldn’t show anything (on the court).”

This is vaguely similar to how Fournier’s 16-game stint with the Celtics went.

In Boston, Fournier never was able to find his footing, thrown in the backseat behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The C’s, like the Knicks, weren’t able to implement Fournier’s 3-point-based offense into their rotation, most times stranding him in the corner mid-game to watch Tatum and Brown, who at that time, weren’t particularly good at getting their teammates involved.

This downgraded role for the last three years has caught up, striking a cord within Fournier, now wanting no part of the Knicks or head coach Tom Thibodeau. Instead, Fourier insists he’d be better taking his talents out to the Western Conference and joining fellow French countryman Victor Wembanyama in a San Antonio Spurs jersey next season.

“I want a spot where I can have fun again, where I can be myself,” Fournier explained. “Would their game be more suited to me? It’s not the Spurs of 2014 anymore but playing for (Greg Popovich), learning from him, it would be a pleasure and an honor, for sure. Afterward, being with Victor, looking at the (upcoming Paris) Olympics, being able to start connecting on the court, that would be great.”