Evan Fournier‘s absence has proven a drain on the Orlando Magic. The team’s offense has cratered since his injury, proving just how valuable he can be.
The Orlando Magic were hoping to glean some type of positive momentum from a fully healthy roster. They could see the light at the end of the tunnel with almost all their key players healthy and ready to hit the floor together. They knew when they had that, they were at least 8-4.
That dream got dashed on the Staples Center court in Los Angeles.
Evan Fournier was fighting for a loose ball when a defender rolled into his knee. He suffered a sprained MCL. With so little time in the season, the prognosis was not good for his return. Coach Frank Vogel left the door open for Evan Fournier to return before the end of the season. But even he said it was a slim chance.
Fournier all but confirmed to John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com his season is over, saying he will forego his usual early offseason trip to focus on rehabbing his knee and getting back to training as early as possible. Everything is lost time in the NBA.
And certain the Magic are feeling some of the pressure right now with Fournier out of the lineup.
For all the things fans get frustrated with Fournier for, there is an undeniable balance he brings to the offense (relatively, at least). There is an impact that his shooting and his ability to work the pick and roll give the team. Something that the team desperately needs right now.
If Fournier’s season is truly over, he will finish averaging a career-high 17.8 points per game. He kept his assists up at 2.9 assists per game and returned to his efficient shooting ways, making 45.9 percent of his shots and 37.9 percent from beyond the arc. After a down shooting year last year, Fournier took to his role and improved his play this offseason.
The Magic had a severe shortage of creators. Asking Fournier to be a pick and roll creator was probably asking a lot more. He always worked better off the ball or attacking rotating defenses. But Fournier has improved and given the Magic all he could.
In pick and rolls this year, Fournier scores on 0.93 points per possession. That puts him in the 80th percentile. He is hardly elite. But he is at least a good option. if the Magic did not have to use him so much, perhaps his effectiveness would be clearer.
The Magic even with Fournier are hardly a strong offense. No one is confusing that. But since Evan Fournier’s injury — combined with Jonathon Simmons‘ injury — the Magic’s offense has lost all spacing and flow.
Since that March 7 game against the Los Angeles Lakers when Fournier got injured, the Magic have the worst offense in the league. They are scoring just 94.4 points per 100 possessions and shooting a league-worst 46.1 percent effective field goal percentage. The number of the team’s possessions has also decreased to 99.4 possessions per 48 minutes.
Orlando Magic
If those numbers do not tell you how bad the Magic have been, the Magic are shooting a league-worst 40.6 percent from the floor since Fournier’s injury.
Orlando’s defense has taken a step up — a strange trend since the All-Star Break and is actually about league average in the same time period. But the team’s offense is so bad that it does not matter.
In the 11 games since Fournier’s injury, the Magic have given up fewer than 100 points in six times. They have failed to score 90 points six times too. So the games are relatively competitive but the team does not have the offensive drive to get over the hump.
The problem was present even before Jonathon Simmons’ injury. Orlando failed to score 100 points in every game but that outburst against the Milwaukee Bucks.
This season, the Magic have a team-best 106.2 offensive rating when Fournier is on the floor. Elfrid Payton is second in that marker. Since the Payton trade, Orlando has a team-best 107.3 offensive rating with Fournier on the floor. That is three points per possession better than any other player on the roster.
It would seem Fournier has a profound impact on the offense. With Fournier off the floor since the All-Star Break, the team has a 95.2 offensive rating. The team is only worse without Simmons.
Certainly missing Fournier’s playmaking and shooting has hurt the team. Throwing in Simmons’ absence only makes things worse. The Magic do not have a playmaker or passer. Aaron Gordon is improving in these areas but clearly cannot carry the load quite yet. Not at an efficient level.
For all the heat Fournier might get, he has proven skilled enough to play this role and get everyone else in the proper position. What Evan Fournier does, albeit imperfectly, seemingly gets Aaron Gordon into the “flow of the offense.” It gives Nikola Vucevic the space to get his shots off and roll to the basket — the two have great on-court chemistry together.
It feels like his absence has drained a lot from the team. There is no getting around that. The team has not found a suitable replacement.
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The results the rest of the season may not matter. But maybe this run has revealed just how much value Fournier still has. And why the Magic still might need to find a player who can spread the floor in the way he does.