Orlando Magic: 3 candidates for a breakout season in 2018-19

3. Evan Fournier

Is there a player on this roster who has seen his stock fall more this summer than Evan Fournier? Despite career highs in points (17.8 per game) and Player Efficiency Rating (15.5) last season, the young core in place looks like the best bet to take the organization forward.

Fournier could still have a part to play in the Magic’s immediate future, and if he gets back to being the offensive player he is capable of being, there is no doubt that will happen. The key word for him is consistency.

Too many times last season, when Fournier started well, he followed up a good performance with a forgettable one. Fournier’s skill-set seems ready made to be a sixth man type for a playoff team.

The Magic aren’t that, and so this may not be the best way to utilize what he can do. Their bench could do with some punch, with the Magic having an offensive rating of 102.8 — 25th in the league last year.

Luckily for Fournier he has got two things going for him. The first is that he is making $17 million over the next three seasons (with the final year a player option), money that a lot of teams would not be keen to sign up for given that cap space is at a premium these days.

The second aspect that favors Fournier is the fact that the point guard rotation in Orlando is among the most shallow in the league. Given that Fournier has played as an off-guard himself before, this could be his chance to seize control of the ball more.

Perhaps he could even spend some time as the lead guard on the team. The situation exists for Fournier to flourish this coming season. Failure to do so could result in the franchise moving on without him, but if he can up his game as he has in the past, it would lead to extra wins and the next step in their rebuild.