Evan Fournier, the veteran wing who has spoken out against his head coach Tom Thibodeau after falling out of favor last season, previously said “there's no way they're gonna keep” him and was the subject of rumored moves all offseason, told reporters he believes he can help the Knicks this season.
“To be honest, guys, I might be dreaming of stuff, but to me, I can help the team,” Fournier told the assembled media at Saturday's training camp practice.
“I’m a good player. I can f------ play. I can bring stuff that this team doesn’t have, too. I have hope to play, to be honest. I have hope to play,” he continued. “Maybe I’m crazy, I don’t know. Maybe Thibs made up his mind as to it. My role is to put him into a position where he has to think about playing me.
“I’m gonna treat every practice and every opportunity I have like it’s the last and we’ll take it from here. But that’s honestly how I will attack it.”
Fournier entered last season as a starter but lost that role after seven games before he was removed from the rotation entirely six games later. Throughout the year and into this offseason, the 30-year-old has not been shy about voicing his dissatisfaction with his diminished role and the deteriorating relationship he had with the Knicks’ head coach.
In an interview with L’Equipe in his native France, Fournier blasted the organization and Thibodeau in July saying “You want to spit on everyone. You have hatred.”
“Derrick Rose and I looked at each and said to each other: ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ During the five-on-five practice, we were on the side like some prospects. Uncool times,” he told L’Equipe. “And when I realized that wouldn’t change, I took things more slowly. I focused on myself and didn’t let the rest get to me anymore.”
On Saturday he called the English translation of that interview "horrible."
“No, that’s not the correct translation,” he said about how “spit on everyone” was translated, via the New York Daily News. “It’s like a way of saying — yeah, you say spit at people but it’s not the literal translation. It’s basically saying you want to tell everyone ‘f---k off’ because you’re so upset, you don’t want to talk to anyone. I’m not gonna walk in the gym and spit on people. Come on, man. You know.”
After the Knicks were eliminated from the playoffs by the Miami Heat, Fournier reflected on his season and said "You know I'm not gonna be back."
"There's no way they're gonna keep me. I would be very surprised if they do. So we'll see. It's obviously not in my hands, though," he said in May.
But he has been a full participant at camp in Charleston, South Carolina, and, even though he admitted he was “a little bit surprised” to still be with the team "when you're under contract, you have to honor your contract."
“You build chemistry with guys. You’re trying to just stay with the team, man, and what’s better: to work with the team or work on your own? I’m not so sure that’s the smart approach,” Fournier said.
Amid all this, Jalen Brunson called Fournier “the ultimate professional.”
“It’s a very tough situation to be in, but he gets his work in, he gets extra work in,” Brunson said, via the Daily News. “He’s been a great teammate and that’s the one thing I’m very proud of him for. We all respect that and we all see that.”
After making 80 starts in his first season with New York, Fournier played in just 27 games (seven starts) experiencing two long stretches, from mid-November to the end of December and mid-February to April, without playing at all.
He averaged 6.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 33.7 percent from the field and 30.7 percent from three-point range during the 2022-23 season.
Fournier is due $18 million for the 2023-24 season with the fourth year of a four-year, $73 million contract he signed in the 2021 offseason being a club option making him an expiring contract that is likely to be moved before the season starts.