Evan Fournier only sees one path forward.
Both for his career, and the Knicks.
The 30-year-old Frenchman blasted the team in an interview with French outlet L’Equipe, his words seemingly removing any chance of reconciliation.
Likely attempting to increase the pressure on the Knicks to either trade or cut him before the start of the regular season, Fournier admitted his own NBA future likely depends on it.
“I would be shot. I’m going to be traded, it’s not possible otherwise,” Fournier told the outlet, translated from French. “Or I’d be stuck, and so would they. They have several players with big contracts coming in. Unless they want to pay a crazy luxury tax.
“If I stayed, it would be a disaster basketball-wise for my career. I can manage a year without playing. Two, that would be terrible.”
A longtime sharpshooter in the league, Fournier signed a lucrative four-year, $73 million deal with the Knicks prior to the 2021-22 season.
The Knicks had just surprisingly finished as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference en route to their first postseason appearance since 2013, and envisioned Fournier to help solve the perimeter shooting needs that plagued them during their first-round exit to the Hawks.
But Fournier’s Knicks tenure has quickly gone awry, bringing him to a critical juncture in his career.
After underperforming his first year with the team, averaging 14.1 points per game on 41.7 percent shooting from the field and 38.9 percent from 3-point range, he largely found himself removed from the rotation and a bystander last season.
He recorded just 6.1 points per game — his lowest since his rookie season — on 33.7 percent shooting from the field and 30.7 percent from behind the arc and did not appear in any of the Knicks’ postseason games.
The Knicks owe Fournier $18.9 million for next year, the final portion of guaranteed money as the fourth year of his deal is a team option.
A split is assuredly inevitable between the two sides, but the Knicks have reason not to rush Fournier out the door quite so fast and wait a bit longer.
If the Knicks want to land a star in a major trade, Fournier could be an important piece of any package in order to match up money and make any deal feasible.
Expiring contracts such as Fournier’s have become more valuable with teams constantly looking to avoid the luxury tax.
That of course doesn’t help Fournier, who seemingly wants his future set sooner rather than later and to get accustomed to a new team.
He believes this summer’s World Cup can help reinvigorate his stature.
“I would be very surprised to be a Knick next year,” Fournier said. “They pay me $18 million, they have no interest in keeping me. If you want to trade me with a good return, why didn’t you use me? I was coming out of a season where I was the fourth best 3-point shooter in the league.
“Why not take advantage of it? They won’t get anything interesting and that’s normal because I couldn’t show anything.
“I want a spot where I have fun again, where I can be myself.”
Fournier played in just 27 regular-season games last year with seven starts, averaging 17.0 minutes per game and was largely replaced in the rotation by Quentin Grimes.
Donte DiVincenzo’s arrival — on a four-year, $50 million deal — would only push Fournier further down in the pecking order.
He struggles on defense, which is Tom Thibodeau’s staple, causing Fournier to fall out of favor with the Knicks’ head coach.
By the end of the season, Fournier said he had no relationship with Thibodeau.
“When he took me out of the [starting] five, he just told me he was going to try something else,” Fournier said. “Then at the first game of a road trip, he announced to me that I was leaving the rotation, and ciao.
“At first, yes, you want to spit on everyone. You have hatred. Derrick Rose and I looked at each other and said to each other: ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ During the five-on-five, we were on the side. Uncool times. And when I realized that wouldn’t change, I took things more slowly. I focused on me and didn’t let the rest get to me anymore.”
