Former Boston Celtics guard Evan Fournier agreed to a four-year $78 million with the New York Knicks earlier in the offseason that originally left Boston with nothing in return.
But on Tuesday, the New York Knicks announced that they had agreed to a sign-and-trade deal with the Celtics where they would acquire two future second-round picks in addition to Fournier while sending back cash to the Celtics.
As part of the deal, the Celtics have now created a traded player exception worth $17.1 million, according to The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach.
A traded player exception is a certain allocation of money that can be used to go over the salary cap to acquire a player via trade without having to send players back in return to match the salaries.
The Celtics have a history of creating these trade exceptions, creating the largest in NBA history when the Celtics sent Gordon Hayward to the Charlotte Hornets in a sign-and-trade last offseason. The Celtics used part of that trade exception to acquire Fournier at the trade deadline from the Orlando Magic.
Fournier had a strong scoring season last year, despite his numbers taking a drop off when he joined the Celtics. Fournier averaged 19.7 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting before being traded to the Celtics. After joining the Celtics, Fournier dropped his scoring average to 13 points per game and his field goal percentage to 44.8.
The Knicks also acquired another recently departed Celtics player this offseason in point guard Kemba Walker who was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier. The Thunder bought out Walker’s contract making him a free agent and allowing him to sign a two-year deal with New York that is reportedly worth $18 million.
