If Boston knew they could get Beal now in a trade, how does not signing Evan Fournier aid that?
One Evan Fournier around to help rebuild a decimated supporting cast is better than zero Evan Fournier. Plus, he'd be a trade asset to get a PG or a big man to rebalance the squad if necessary.
Could be Stevens wasn't prepared for that possibility, or it could be that Washington told him they didn't want Fournier.
Until Fournier signs with the Knicks, we can negotiate a sign-and-trade with them, where we send the Knicks a pick and we get to use Fournier’s outgoing salary as part of a trade for Beal. Whereas had we signed Fournier, we could not trade him to Washington until January.
And $18m TPE wouldn't be big enough to absorb Beal and we can't combin it with other salaries to match Beal's money. It could be useful in taking back a big contract off Washington's books to aid a Washington trade - say absorbing the rest of Bertan's contract.
It’s not a TPE. It’s a 3-team deal where we send the Knicks Fournier and compensation for helping, the Wizards prospects and picks, and we get Beal. If we combine it with the Sac-Hawks trade, we can use Thompson’s outgoing salary as well.
Oh okay, so we're fantasizing. Sure, you could structure a deal around a hypothetical Fournier sign and trade by combining it with the Sacramento trade. But keep in mind you have to also incentivize the Knicks to play ball because they don't need us to sign Fournier and they're likely not interested in helping a division rival. If I'm the Knicks I'm asking for no less than an unprotected 1st to come to the table like Brooklyn did when we tried to engage them on a sign and trade for Kyrie and then that's one less pick to send to Washington. And if I'm the Knicks, I'm honestly asking for more - like a Derozan Spurs package - because I know the Celtics aren't negotiating from a position of strength. We're not exactly overflowing with assets anymore.
With that said, there's been zero indication that Beal is currently available or that Washington is even willing to take calls for him so this is all a moot point.