Orlando Magic: 2018-19 player grade for Evan Fournier
By Luke Duffy
Final grade
It is clear the that Evan Fournier has a role on this Orlando Magic roster, although quite how much of it he gets by default is a concern.
He’s the guy who closes games because they don’t have anybody better right now, and he’s a starter because his offensive game and body type fit with the other players on the team.
But he’s just not doing enough for an organization that are starting to climb up the Eastern Conference. He says the right things to the media and it is fair to say that he has taken defending more seriously and improved as a result.
But numbers in other key areas have taken a dip, and his clutch stats are misleading too (he actually has an offensive rating of only 98.8 in those situations, a really poor output).
The current front office inherited Fournier from the previous regime, and with two years and $34 million remaining on his deal, he is making considerable money that could be used to greater effect elsewhere on the roster.
Caris LeVert recently signed an extension with the Brooklyn Nets for similar money and although he has shown to be injury-prone, that is the kind of player that would be a better fit timeline wise with where the Magic are now.
They were never going to get LeVert of course, but if it is more exciting to think about where $17 million a season could go to make improvements, as opposed to what it is currently doing on your team, then something hasn’t gone quite right.
Fournier falls into this category more than any other player in Orlando.
Not a bad player, and one capable of scoring in a myriad of ways. Who has committed more to defending and passing the ball more as well.
But also one who has a tendency to fade in and out of games and shows an inconsistency that can be frustrating as his teammates around him continue to show improvements.
Maybe Fournier is just a reminder of a terrible period in Orlando Magic history.
One where losing was common, and Fournier and Vucevic were putting up mostly empty numbers nightly, of a time when he and the likes of Bismack Biyombo were given considerable money, even when there were better options out there.
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Evan Fournier was the best they could do then, but that’s not true anymore. It feels like both player and organization are outgrowing one another.