Orlando Magic fans know the narrative surrounding Evan Fournier.
He is up and down. He is inconsistent. If the Magic are to go anywhere, they need an upgrade at his position.
Evan Fournier has not been many of those things throughout his career with the Orlando Magic. He was solid and a reliable shooter for much of his tenure with the team. Perhaps the Magic asked him to create too much on the perimeter, but he was the team’s best 3-point shooter.
In his first four seasons with the Magic, he averaged 15.6 points per game, shooting 37.9 percent from beyond the arc and a 52.7 percent effective field goal percentage overall. Those are not All-Star-level numbers, but hardly inconsistent.
Unfortunately, in 2019 this perceived narrative about Fournier became true.
He has his worst season in a Magic uniform, averaging 15.1 points per game, the worst since he first joined the team in the 2015 season. Fournier shot a career-worst 34.0 percent from beyond the arc. His 50.9 percent effective field goal percentage was one of the worst marks of his career.
Fournier improved in several other areas. He averaged a career-high 3.6 assists per game. And his 2.5 win shares and -1.1 defensive box plus-minus were by far the best marks of his career. That is not a lot to write home about, but he showed dramatic improvements in those areas.
But ultimately, his main contributions to the team came on offense. He is the team’s most potent 3-point shooter and that part of his game was non-existent — especially in the playoffs when he made only 8 of 34 (23.5 percent) 3-pointers in the five-game series.
His struggles defied explanation, even from him. Fournier tried to remain confident but could not get his shot to go down.
Many NBA players receive the “inconsistent” label. And Fournier certainly received that label fairly.
But how inconsistent was he, really?
Looking closer at his 2019 season, the answers were damning for the 2-guard but there remains reasons for optimism.