Knicks’ Evan Fournier gets brutally honest about future in New York
Now that the Knicks’ offseason has officially started, there are a few players that have likely played their final game in a New York uniform. One of those players is Evan Fournier, who didn’t play at all in the playoffs but did make an appearance in the Knicks’ regular season finale on April 9.
After setting New York’s record for three-pointers made in a single season in 2021-22, the shooting guard played in only 27 games in 2022-23 and shot 30.7% from three. The Knicks reportedly tried to deal him ahead of the deadline, but it seemed as if his contract is what kept teams away. Fournier’s now on an expiring contract as he’s set to make $18.9 million in 2023-24 before having a $19 million club option in 2024-25.
As if it wasn’t already obvious that Fournier’s time with New York was coming to an end, the Knicks shooting 29.2% from deep in the playoffs still wasn’t enough for the team to turn to the former starter. Some fans were calling for Fournier to make an appearance, but he remained in his usual position on the bench.
In case it hasn’t been made blatantly obvious by the organization’s decisions, Fournier won’t be back. He knows it, too. After the season-ending loss on Friday, he said:
"“There’s no way they’re going to keep me. I would be very surprised if they did,” Fournier said after the season-ending, Game 6 loss Friday night at Kaseya Center. “So we’ll see. It’s obviously not in my hands.”"
Evan Fournier says he’d be “very surprised” if Knicks kept him in offseason
Evan Fournier handled being removed from Tom Thibodeau’s rotation like a true professional, and he’s been in the league long enough to know that his stint in New York will likely soon be over.
"“My season has been over for a very long time, actually. This officially is the end, but my season was over a long time ago,” Fournier said. “It took me a good month to understand that. At first I was, like, just be patient in seeing how the team developed. Obviously, there are gonna be changes and I’m gonna get traded.”"
The Knicks signed Fournier to a four-year, $78 million deal in free agency only two offseasons ago, and to be honest, that contract raised a lot of eyebrows back then. It’s even worse in retrospect considering that New York used him for only one full season before putting him on the back burner.
The 30-year-old should find himself on his fifth team since entering the league sometime in the coming months. His stint with the Knicks didn’t go as planned, but hopefully Evan Fournier will be dealt to a team where he can contribute on a nightly basis.
