2018-19 Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Evan Fournier

2020 Outlook

Evan Fournier’s struggles throughout the 2019 season made his contract feel weighty for the first time in his career. He was productive and largely in the ways the Orlando Magic wanted that at least made his $17-million contract seem palatable. It did not feel completely overwhelming.

Now that Orlando has tasted success and is looking for ways to improve the roster without sacrificing its young players, Fournier feels like a bit of weight on the team. Especially if he is not able to surpass this past season.

Fournier has two more years left on his contract at $17 million. The second year is a player option, but there seems little chance he will pass on that option at this point.

Any major deal involving the Magic trying to get better likely involves using Fournier. He is probably the rotation player the Magic would be most willing to let go in a deal.

That feels far too reductive, but that feels like the truth. Any deal that fans can concoct probably starts with offering Fournier over anyone else.

That probably also means any deal that fans really want to pursue probably will not happen. That means the whole league knows the Magic’s desire to move on or move in a different direction and look for improvements. It will be tough to create any cap relief that way anyway.

It is hard to reduce a player only to his contract. That is the worst part of the league.

The reality is that Fournier had a down year. It was a season that seemed like an outlier for him. And so there is no reason to believe he cannot still right the ship and become the shooter the Magic have relied upon for so long.

Evan Fournier’s role may have to change some — especially if Nikola Vucevic departs in free agency. The Magic need Fournier at a baseline to be a better shooter. The kind of shooter the team relied on for several years before.

If he does that, his efficiency will increase and the team will be a lot better.