Brad Stevens is spending his Friday night at the office this weekend.
After bringing in Kris Dunn and Bruno Fernando in a three-team trade for Tristan Thompson, Stevens is reportedly using the remainder of the Gordon Hayward traded player exception to bring in Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Richardson.
Richardson is coming off his worst statistical season since his second year in Miami, finding a poor fit in Dallas after they traded for him to shore up their defense. At his peak, Richardson averaged 16.6 points on 35.7% shooting from deep as a starter with the Heat two seasons ago.
Stevens could be buying low on Richardson, who was very clearly a poor fit with the Mavs. He caught COVID-19 and fell out of favor, costing the Mavs an important piece in Seth Curry in the process. If Richardson can regain some of his lost mojo, the C's could have themselves a defensive presence on the perimeter that fills some gaps on this team.
There is a question now about how this impacts the Evan Fournier negotiations. Thompson's $9.7 million is out but Dunn's $5 million is in, along with $1.7 from Fernando. Add $11.6 million from Richardson and suddenly some of this math seems off.
Will they actually re-sign Fournier? Adding $15-$17 million on top of these deals puts Boston back in Kemba Walker tax territory while making the team better ... but how much better?
Suddenly the prospect of a Fournier sign-and-trade somewhere is a bit more realistic. Or perhaps the scenario of a team with cap space throwing a huge one-year offer at Fournier is coming to fruition. Instead of spending $17 million on one guy, the Celtics may be counting on two guys to match that production.
Then again, maybe not. There is already chatter that Dunn could move again.
If Dunn sticks around and he and Richardson pan out, they could be the type of complementary players for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown that Stevens has been looking for. It's just as possible that they don't, and Boston is spending next summer trying this all over again.
Speaking of next summer, it will be interesting to see if these move impact extension discussions with Marcus Smart and Robert Williams. Those could be tabled as Boston looks at how these players pan out.
Of course, these would be a lot of expiring contracts that could help another team open up a lot of cap space in exchange for a disgruntled star.
Clearly there are a lot of moving parts, and as the information continues to roll in, we'll have a better idea of what Stevens is really up to.
