Celtics use TPE, acquire Evan Fournier from Magic for Jeff Teaque and two 2nd rounders

Update: Jeff Teague has now been attached to this trade, going back to the Magic along with two second-round picks in exchange for Evan Fournier.

Big news for the Boston Celtics: Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN is reporting that the Celtics could be on the verge of adding Orlando Magic wing Evan Fournier for the cost of only two second round draft picks.

This would imply the use of Gordon Hayward’s traded player exception (TPE) to acquire Fournier if there’s no additional salary going out. This is huge because the Celtics have been noted as the frontrunner in Aaron Gordon trades. Reports surfaced earlier that Boston could trade Marcus Smart as part of a larger trade to include Fournier, but clearly, that’s not the real asking price.

Fournier is an expiring $17M contract (leaving $11M left in the TPE), which fits in nicely for Boston under the hard cap that was put in place by signing Tristan Thompson. It remains to be seen what will happen with Aaron Gordon, but the Celtics could still conceivably acquire him by sending out salary.

CelticsBlog’s Keith Smith reports that this doesn’t take Boston out of the running for Aaron Gordon (especially since no first rounders have changed hands yet). Buckle up, folks.

We’ll update this story as more information comes out on the Fournier trade, but it appears that all eyes are now on Aaron Gordon. No matter what, this is a great move for Danny Ainge and the Celtics who have been clowned on relentlessly for standing pat at the deadline. Boston adds a 19.7 points per game scorer (along with 3.7 assists and 38.8% shooting from behind the 3-point line) for just the cost of second round picks, and he’ll be a huge boost to the Celtics for basically the cost of nothing. That’s a steal and a slam dunk win.

Now we’ll see if the Celtics will get creative to match salaries for Aaron Gordon. But for now, Boston’s offense just got better.