Orlando Magic: 2017-18 player grades for Evan Fournier

Weaknesses

For all Fournier’s offensive skills, it didn’t translate to Magic wins most of the time, and for that he must accept some responsibility.

In truth, the team was out of the playoff hunt by Christmas, with Fournier missing games from the Dec. 8-23 due to injury.

This is where fans began to worry about having Fournier as the go-to scoring option on so many trips down the court. His consistency and decision-making became issues.

Whereas he started the season on firel (55.6 percent from deep and averaging 22 points per game in month of November), he faded rapidly as the season wore on. It got to the point where many fans would bemoan the fact Fournier had the ball in his hands when the team was looking for a basket — not a good direction to be going in.

His perceived lack of effort, especially defensively, then became an issue. If your shots aren’t falling, you at least have to try hard on the other end of the court.

Yet when Fournier was on the court, the team allowed 109.3 points per 100 possessions. This was the worst mark of Fournier’s career.

The Magic finished 20th as a team in defensive rating (107.7) this season, but if Fournier had been even a little more engaged on that end, they could have done slightly better.

It may also have kept former head coach Frank Vogel in his position. When the ball wasn’t going through the net, Fournier wasn’t always contributing much else, and that’s a worry.