Knicks now open to keeping Evan Fournier?

With the front office being adamant about being patient in its pursuit of a superstar, much of the Knicks’ boring and lackluster offseason has been filled with news of two-way contracts, the trade of Obi Toppin, and the signing of Donte DiVincenzo. With all of those now in the rearview mirror, the only thing, besides speculatory mock trades for a star, that we have now is Evan Fournier rumors.

As we’ve covered multiple times over the last couple of weeks, the disgruntled veteran has been wanting out for quite some time now, and while the guard has reportedly drawn some interest, there hasn’t been any real traction mostly due to the Knicks’ reluctance to part ways with a draft pick to ship him out.

For now, it seems like things have reached an impasse, and the Knicks are reportedly okay with that. “I think the Knicks are going to have opportunities again, to move Fournier,” Begley said on the Orange and Blue Bloods podcast. “But at this point, I don’t know, it just feels like they’re comfortable going into the season with him on the roster, out of the rotation and disgruntled.”

New York would obviously like to start fresh and move Fournier, and they have a considerable amount of time to do so either via a trade or a buyout. But the recent update shows that the front office is not in a hurry or desperation to do so. As Leon Rose has done so often, it seems like the Knicks will monitor the situation and take things one day at a time, even if it means rostering an unhappy veteran. As imperfect as it may be to do so, it isn’t a bad plan at all. Fournier’s value is at an all-time low (which is mostly the Knicks’ fault) and there’s no need to trade him away just for the sake of doing so. This is awful news for Fournier and his camp, as he could be stuck in basketball purgatory for the next few months, but the Knicks know that moving or not moving Fournier currently has little effect on how their season plays out. Unless things get ugly between the two sides, it looks like this stalemate could last a while.