Many Orlando Magic fans want to see Evan Fournier traded. There are several reasons that won’t happen before the deadline.
With the Orlando Magic having a disappointing season, fans seem eager to place the blame on somebody in the hopes that player will take their gripes, put it in a box with their belongings, and leave before Thursday’s deadline.
The two players who have come in for the most stick at this point being Nikola Vucevic, the same player beloved after receiving a first All-Star nod last season, and Evan Fournier, the mercurial Frenchman who is often left with too much to do on his own offensively.
When combined they are known as the “Euro Bros”, despite France and Montenegro having about as much in common as Patrick Mahomes and comfortable playoff leads. Blaming them for a franchise’s shortcomings is easy to do, especially on social media, but there’s a lot more wrong with the Magic right now than these two.
While we may get into what exactly those issues are later in the month, once the deadline passes and the front office have made no moves, it is also fair to wonder what this team would look like without Fournier.
This is what a large section of fans are crying out for, despite there being no clear or obvious alternatives in terms of growing from within, or obvious trades to make. if you look at Fournier’s situation now and moving forward, you’ll quickly see that he’s going nowhere, and there’s plenty of reasons why.
2. His contract
It starts with Fournier’s contract, and more importantly than that, the one that is going to follow. Fournier is making $17 million next season (as well as this season), in what will be the final year of his deal before hitting unrestricted free agency. The longer Fournier is a Magic player, the shorter his rental period with another team would be.
Would he be an upgrade for a contending team looking to win it all? Absolutely, it’s just what comes next that’s the problem. Fournier has a player option on his contract next season. You better believe he’s picking it up. He could opt out in the hopes of getting a longer deal and security, plus the free agent class of 2020 is not one of the more loaded years.
But despite what a lot of Magic fans think, Fournier is still comfortably good enough to pick up the player option next season, and then snag himself another deal in 2021. Where this becomes a problem, particularly for his current employers though, is deciding what to pay him, and how much that eats into what else they can do.
Vucevic got his $100 million last summer, part of the reason he too is going nowhere. Gordon was signed to a new deal before that, and Markelle Fultz is going to be up for an extension before long. Bring Fournier back too and, that’s your core. Just like it is right now. How is that going again? So when the idea of a trade is brought up, which in the case of Twitter is an hourly occurrence at this rate, we need to realize that there are plenty of factors at play here.
It’s ironic, because Fournier is having his most complete season as a pro. Now 27, he is the Magic’s best chance at generating offense on any given possession, and he shoots the ball from deep and gets to the basket really well. There’s not a lot of holes in his game on that end, he’s just playing with a lopsided roster.
1. Who out there can do what he does?
Which brings us back to this “Euro Bros” argument. When Fournier looks around the court, often what he sees is a streaky Gordon, an ice-cold Terrence Ross, a still growing Fultz, and the paint patrolling Khem Birch. Jonathan Isaac is in street clothes, and nice though Wesley Iwundu has been, if he is getting all of the touches, you know you’re in trouble.
So what does Fournier do? Give the ball to the best Magic player of the last seven years, who led them through a rebuild and back to the playoffs. Becoming their first All-Star since Dwight Howard in the process, climbing the franchise’s all-time leader boards, and averaging a double-double in five of those seasons (as well as this one).
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Fournier and Vucevic are the best offensive tandem the Magic have, and that’s not going to guarantee you a win every night. In fact, when coupled with a head coach in Steve Clifford who preaches defense first, the team aren’t going to look good losing either. When the pair work well together, it looks great. When they don’t, and this happens regularly, it is ugly.
That’s what you get when you overpay for a player in Vucevic who plays in a position that is quickly vanishing on the court, and put him beside Fournier who is under-qualified for what he is often asked to do. He’d look great on a contending outfit, but his contract and where the Magic are at in their own development mean this is not going to happen.
So all of the reasons Magic fans would prefer if he was gone, are the exact same reasons he’s going to struggle to command similar sums for the rest of his career. Or why not a lot of organizations are picking up the phone to engage with the Magic right now. Not because Fournier’s a bad player, but because teams are much smarter with how they spend their money and construct a roster compared to even 10 years ago.
This is why it took 12 players and four teams to get Clint Capela out of Houston, and it might blow up in the faces of the Rockets and Atlanta Hawks. Andre Drummond of the Pistons is even harder to move. You better like looking at Vucevic, because even if Fournier could somehow be magically moved, do you really think another player in his position, or a similar skill level, would be able to do any better?
Conclusion
Of the players currently rumored to be available, who out of those mentioned could do more, bearing in mind the roster around them would still be the same, than Fournier? Robert Covington? Too late now, but he’s better as a complementary player? D’Angelo Russell? Didn’t the Magic trade for a franchise point guard at this stage last year, and hasn’t he started off well since returning from injury?
Or is Fultz suddenly not the answer, just because another player might be available? Russell is much better than Fultz right now, which begs the question, what do the Orlando Magic have other than Fournier to trade? Throw Aaron Gordon in as well?
Now we’re getting into major roster overhaul and change of direction, plus Gordon has seemingly been available for some time now, adding Fournier isn’t going to change that. Luke Kennard? Actually a nice idea, but the Detroit Pistons look destined for a rebuild. Andrew Wiggins? You know what, let’s stick with Fournier, things aren’t that bad.
This is what you get when you’ve had a poor front office who have been allowed to make poor moves for a prolonged period of time. Remember, at one point the franchise turned Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and Domantas Sabonis into Serge Ibaka. Take a look at the Indiana Pacers when you get a chance, they’re not doing too badly.
So when a new front office come in, it’s going to take time to clear out the dead wood and get the roster looking the way they want it. These are the people who drafted Isaac and traded for Fultz. They also drafted Mohamed Bamba, and while the jury is still out on him, he’s been ok recently. The Vucevic deal seemed a bit odd, but nowhere near the disaster Ibaka was.
Evan Fournier is a product of the previous regime. He’s actually turned out to be one of the Orlando Magic’s best players for a prolonged stretch of time, but it would seem to suit both player and team best if they split. It’s just his contract won’t allow that right now. Next time you want to rag on him or bemoan the fact he still plays in Orlando, remember all of those facts. Everything is not his fault, and it’s not this front office’s fault they can’t move him either.