Celtics reportedly have interest in Jeff Green, Rudy Gay, others before free agency – Boston.com

Celtics

The Celtics might move on from Evan Fournier.

The Celtics won’t have a lot of cap room when free agency opens on Monday, but they reportedly have interest in several players who could improve the team in the short term.

Per The Boston Globe‘s Adam Himmelsbach, the Celtics are increasingly unlikely to re-sign Evan Fournier — last season’s trade-deadline acquisition. Fournier reportedly could receive a very lucrative contract, and the Celtics seem to be prioritizing future flexibility over short-term moves.

Instead, the Celtics reportedly might take a look at players like Jeff Green, Rudy Gay, and Kelly Olynyk. Green and Olynyk are both former Celtics, and Olynyk in particular has expressed fond memories of playing in Boston. All three would be intriguing additions to a team that desperately needed veteran help last season.

Brad Stevens already made several splashy moves as President of Basketball Operations. The first was trading Kemba Walker and a first-round pick for Al Horford shortly after the season, clearing Walker’s lucrative deal and adding a veteran big who helped the franchise enormously in his first stint.

Last week, Stevens traded Tristan Thompson as part of a three-team deal that brought back Kris Dunn (who is reportedly likely to move) and Bruno Fernando. Then Stevens dealt Moses Brown for Mavericks guard Josh Richardson, who slotted into the remaining room in the traded-player exception created by Gordon Hayward’s departure.

Per Himmelsbach, the Celtics are likely to utilize the taxpayer mid-level exception to avoid being hard capped.

Read the full story on The Boston Globe.