Around noon on Thursday, Danny Ainge made his first trade deadline move since acquiring Isaiah Thomas. The Celtics traded two second round picks to the Orlando Magic for small forward Evan Fournier. Fournier is 28 years old and a free agent at the end of this season. Most importantly, he averages 19.7 points per game and will give the Celtics a consistent scoring option outside of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
The Celtics are 21-23 and have underachieved since starting the season 8-3. One of the biggest reasons has been the inconsistent play beyond Tatum and Brown. Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker have both missed time due to injuries and have both been unable to score regularly to take some of the load off Tatum and Brown. The Celtics bench has been routinely outplayed and coach Brad Stevens has been unable to find a good mix of players for 48 minutes on a nightly basis. Tatum and Brown are also not innocent in the Celtics struggles; they have had a hard time elevating the play of their teammates.
With Fournier, Boston will have another player that they can look to for offense without worrying about Smart and Walker going cold. The Celtics have looked discombobulated at several points this season and Fournier will at the very least provide some stabilization. Opposing teams will now have another scorer to defend in crunch time and the Celtics have more offense when either Tatum or Brown are off the floor.