Evan Fournier signed a four-year, $78 million deal with the New York Knicks ahead of the 2021-22 season. Over a year later, that contract has already come back to haunt the Knicks. The 30-year-old guard last played in a game on Nov. 13 and has since been pushed out of the rotation.
The front office is working to find a trade partner for Fournier and it was reported a couple of weeks ago that New York isn’t willing to attach a first-round pick to the guard. However, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (subscription required), the Knicks reportedly have “communicated that they are willing to attach Quickley or Reddish to Fournier to make a trade work.”
Fans have known that New York has been listening to trade calls for Quickley and Derrick Rose, but with Reddish being out of Tom Thibodeau’s nine-man rotation, he could be dealt in the coming weeks. Reddish’s inconsistencies have been an issue since he was drafted in 2019 by the Hawks, but he managed to crack the Knicks’ starting lineup this season and performed well. A sore groin kept him sidelined for a couple of games and now that he’s no longer on the injury report, he’ll remain on the bench.
New York chose to not extend Reddish by the October deadline, so he’ll become a restricted free agent over the summer. Trade rumors were floating around during the offseason, so the Knicks sending him off midseason would make sense, especially if the plan is to not pay him.
But it’s safe to say that fans weren’t expecting that there would be a possibility that Quickley could be dealt ahead of the Feb. 9 deadline, and it makes it even worse that he could be used to make Fournier and his contract more appealing.
The funniest/saddest part of the IQ/Cam collateral damage is that it’s due to the FO’s efforts to make NY appear more appealing through vet additions. They failed on 2 fronts; the vets (save Brunson) didn’t make them better, and the asset management paints a disorganized picture.
— Jonathan Macri (@JCMacriNBA) December 7, 2022
Knicks reportedly are willing to attach either Immanuel Quickley or Cam Reddish in an Evan Fournier trade
Fans have been wanting New York to embrace its youth, and now, there’s a chance that the team could part with one of their young players in order to move on from a veteran that should’ve never received the contract that he did in the first place.
It would sting more to see Immanuel Quickley leave as he’s in only his third season in the league after being selected by the Knicks in the first round of the 2020 draft. Cam Reddish hasn’t even been in NYC for a full year, but the front office did use a protected first-round pick to get him from Atlanta. Since the trade in January, Reddish hasn’t been used properly by Thibodeau.
Quickley’s been one of the Knicks’ best defenders so far this season, although he’s struggled offensively. As New York continues in its pursuit of a star, it’s been reported that the front office is looking to receive a first-round pick back for IQ in a potential trade. Fred Katz noted that Quickley has “fans in other front offices” but questioned if another team would be willing to meet the Knicks’ price for him.
Over the next couple of months, fans are going to learn if an opposing team is willing to do so. It might be best to go ahead and prepare for Quickley to leave so that if it does happen, it won’t hurt as bad to see him go. Who are we kidding, though? It’s going to hurt regardless.
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