Orlando Magic: 4 players who need to step up with Evan Fournier out
By Luke Duffy
1. Aaron Gordon
Gordon might seem like the obvious choice here, but it is one thing to talk about taking over for this team, and quite another to actually do it.
Gordon began the year scorching hot, at one point shooting 55 percent from deep and leading the league in 3-point shooting. That run may have been unsustainable, but he still leads the Magic in scoring (18.7 points per game) while shooting 40.6 percent from deep.
He really must have worked on his shooting stroke over the summer, as it is so much more fluid than the first three years of his career. This has opened the whole floor up for Gordon, and as a result he has been lighting teams up at times this season.
The 41 points he poured in against the Brooklyn Nets was a highlight, and he will need to get back to that form in Fournier’s absence. There’s no reason to believe this can’t happen, as Gordon had to sometimes defer to Fournier so that he could get his as well.
With the Frenchman gone, the ball will be in Gordon’s hands even more, so expect his usage rate of 21.4 percent (already a career high) to take another jump.
A restricted free agent next summer, this truly is the moment Gordon has been waiting for to break out in a big way.
Next: 2017-18 Week 8 NBA Power Rankings
By the time Fournier returns, he may be known to the casual fan as more than just the guy who should have won the dunk contest a few years back.