2019 Orlando Magic Player Outlook: Evan Fournier
What Could Go Wrong
Evan Fournier has been more than solid offensively over the past few years. Even if he has a small dip in efficiency, he has found a way to expand his game and provide something of value to the Magic. It feels like the 2017 dip was the aberration and Fournier will be someone to count on for 17 points per game and near 40-percent 3-point shooting.
It is the other aspects of his game that still leave something wanting. Especially if the Magic are going to rely on Fournier as a key part of the team’s offense once again.
It is just a plain fact that Fournier has led the team in scoring each of the last two years and the team has struggled to win. Fournier is not the kind of player who should be the leading scorer on your team. But Fournier has been forced into that role.
He may not have that whole responsibility again this year. But it may happen again anyway.
For all of Fournier’s offensive ability as a floor space and even effective pick and roll player, he is not someone who is taking anyone off the dribble successfully.
Orlando Magic
Fournier was not a strong passer, dishing out just 2.9 assists per game. Playmaking is just not a strong suit of his. It might be why he is better in that secondary role rather than as a key guy. Any thoughts of using him as a point guard to alleviate the Magic’s horrid point guard situation is probably not the wisest idea.
On top of this, as good as Fournier might be on offense, he has not stood out much defensively.
The Magic had a 109.3 defensive rating with Fournier on the floor, one of the worst on the team. That stat does carry with it a lot of noise. Fournier was on the floor a lot with the starting lineup that struggled. But it still says something that Fournier’s defensive rating was only worse than Jonathon Simmons (and Elfrid Payton) among the team’s starters.
Jonathon Simmons certainly is guilty of some of that noise — bouncing between poor defensive lineups off the bench and with the starting unit — but he has a reputation as a solid defender. Fournier has rarely been on the floor with good defensive lineups.
At the very least, Fournier does not fit the seeming model for the Magic’s future. He does not have a ton of defensive versatility. In fact, he is probably one of the biggest defensive tweeners on the team — too slow to defend shooting guards, but not big and strong enough to defend small forwards. Fournier has often worked best as a small forward to avoid that speed deficit.
These are not new problems. That is one of the other issues with Fournier, at least for the role the Magic use him for. Fournier knows exactly what he is. And it does not seem like Fournier has taken many steps to alleviate these weaknesses. Not that they are the reasons the team has suffered its current fate.
Fournier, like with all the things he does well, will likely still have all these weaknesses. The story on Fournier is pretty well written and the expectations for him seem to be the same.