The Celtics completed a sign-and-trade with the Knicks for guard Evan Fournier. Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
BOSTON — The Celtics finalized a sign-and-trade with the Knicks on Tuesday, sending guard Evan Fournier along with a 2023 second-round draft pick and conditional 2022 second-round pick to New York in exchange for cash considerations.
The deal also generated a trade exception for Boston.
Fournier agreed to his new $78 million, four-year deal with the Knicks hours after the official start of the free agency signing period earlier this month.
Boston hoped to re-sign Fournier, who it acquired from Orlando at the trade deadline for a pair of second-round draft picks, but was limited by its efforts to stay under the luxury tax threshold. Those efforts were lessened some after the Celtics traded the remainder of the four-year, $140 million deal they gave point guard Kemba Walker in 2019 to Oklahoma City in June.
The Celtics were unwilling to outbid the Knicks’ offer in the end. In a twist, Walker is also headed to New York after agreeing to a buyout with the Thunder and signing a two-year, $17.8 million deal.
The hope had been that Fournier would give Boston some wing depth and another ball handler. But his arrival and integration into the Celtics’ system was immediately stunted by stints on the COVID-19 list, limiting him to 16 games.
At the time of his trade from Orlando he was averaging career highs of 19.7 points and 3.7 assists per game. But his output shrunk to 13 points and 3.1 assists over the remainder of the season.
76ERS: Joel Embiid has deep into the decade to try and win his first NBA championship with Philadelphia. Another big-money deal locked up, the All-Star nicknamed “The Process” wants to end his career a Sixers lifer.
The 76ers kept their trust in Embiid and signed the 7-footer to a multiyear contract that a person familiar with the situation said was a four-year, $196 million extension, taking him through the 2026-27 season.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because specific terms of the deal announced Tuesday were not made public.
There’s no place like PHILADELPHIA!!! Excited to continue working towards bringing a title home and eventually retire here #PHILLY pic.twitter.com/V7YLAbRxAD
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) August 17, 2021
“There’s no place like PHILADELPHIA!!! Excited to continue working towards bringing a title home and eventually retire here #PHILLY,” Embiid wrote on social media.
His new deal will start in 2023-24. Embiid and the 76ers signed a $148 million, five-year extension that kicked in with the 2018-19 season.
PISTONS: The Detroit Pistons signed Luka Garza and Chris Smith to two-way contracts.
Detroit selected Garza, the AP national player of the year, with the No. 52 overall pick in the draft. The 6-foot-11, 235-pound center played well for the Pistons during the NBA Summer League, averaging 15 points and 9.6 rebounds. He averaged 24.1 points and 8.7 rebounds last season at Iowa.
The team signed Smith as an undrafted free agent, giving a player an opportunity after having a season-ending knee surgery last year at UCLA.
The 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward averaged 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in eight games last season. Smith averaged eight points over four seasons with the Bruins.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.