Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier are available, as is All-Star center Nikola Vucevic. The Magic have been looking for point guard help, kicking the tires on Ricky Rubio recently. Celtics guard Kemba Walker remains a favorite of Magic coach Steve Clifford, but it’s unlikely Boston, without much depth behind Walker, will part with him at this point.
https://www.si.com/nba/2021/03/16/nba-trade-rumors-storylines-to-follow
He also reports that the Celtics will likely ''pursue Barnes right up until the deadline''.
To sum up:
- Gordon, Fournier are available
- the Magic like Kemba
- the C's like Barnes
How about this trade?
C's starting lineup after the trade
PG: Smart
SG: Brown
SF: Barnes
PF: Tatum
C: Theis/Thompson/Timelord
6th man: Fournier
Good ideas, but Orlando offloading Fournier and Gordon doesn’t deserve a Kemba return. What if we just went after those two players for a combo of guys like Nesmith, Theis, and some pieces to stay under the hard cap?
Not saying I’m married to it but the idea is keeping our top 4 while adding two really high level role players. One under contract, one off the books next season. Fournier might walk but might also be sign-and-trade bait, or be a valuable guy if he wants to stay.
https://tradenba.com/trades/R7Sh6v420
I'm assuming Gordon would be headed to the Kings and we'd get Barnes. Wouldn't do it cause I'm low on Fournier, but that's just me.
Not sure whether we could re-sign Fournier and still use the full TPE. The luxury tax would explode through the roof. Chances are we could either re-sign him and use a small part of the TPE or let him walk and use the full TPE.
If you ask me, I'd view Fournier as a rental. I'd be perfectly fine with letting him walk (unless of course we can't attract a better player via the TPE). Basically, the trade would be Kemba for Barnes + cap relief. As things stand right now, I don't think we can realistically expect to use the full TPE.