2. Evan Fournier
In the summer of 2021 the New York Knicks looked like winners. They had attracted or retained good veteran players who met needs on the team without handing any a true albatross of a contract. It’s probably not their fault that Evan Fournier, signed to the most money of them all, immediately fell off of a cliff.
That’s not to say he hasn’t played well for the Knicks. He set a franchise record last year for most 3-pointers in a single season with 241, shooting 38.9% from deep. It’s just that his defense evaporated, his passing has atrophied, and he shot a career-worst 41.7% overall from the field because he couldn’t make a shot inside the arc. Fast forward to this season, and Fournier is shooting just 34.4% from the field in the 13 games he’s played.
Fournier just turned 30 years old, and his strong play for France at EuroBasket suggests he still has something left in the tank if a team can just harness it. His shooting is still a weapon and he’s not hesitant to get a shot up, which gives him a fair amount of gravity still. In the right ecosystem he could fill a solid bench role.
The problem is the four-year, $73 million contract he signed in the summer of 2021. He’s due to make $18.86 million next season. The team option for 2024-25 helps balance out that hit, but a team still has to be willing to take on the money for next year. The Knicks shouldn’t drop a major asset to get off of his money, but if another team values Fournier enough for New York to “break even” in the deal, they should probably say yes.