Orlando Magic are giving Evan Fournier all their attention

Evan Fournier has found an offensive revival, showing new dimensions to his game just as the Orlando Magic need it. (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
Evan Fournier has found an offensive revival, showing new dimensions to his game just as the Orlando Magic need it. (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Without Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier finds himself the center of attention on an Orlando Magic team seeking some guidance.

All eyes were on Orlando Magic guard Evan Fournier during the World Cup.

He was the team’s best option offensively. The ball would be in his hands and the pressure could not be higher. His team was depending on him to be scorer, playmaker, decisionmaker and everything else.

Last year with the Magic, he expanded his role off the dribble. He averaged a career-high in assists and was a smart all-around player. But his shooting never came around. The biggest element of his game had left him during his team’s best run.

There was a new look in his eye now as he tried to will his team forward.

For France at the FIBA World Cup, Evan Fournier put a rough season — and really a rough year personally, which he shed some light on with John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com — behind him. He played free and aggressive. France put the ball in his hands and asked him to create for them and to lead their team.

At the FIBA World Cup, Fournier averaged 19.8 points per game and shot a 47.8 percent effective field goal percentage. He was not exactly efficient with his 17 field goal attempts per game. But he could play free. And the game was on his shoulders with the ball in his hands at every moment.

He delivered too. Fournier made the All-Tournament team for his raw scoring numbers and France’s bronze-medal finish.

He stepped up in the biggest game against the United States, scoring 22 points to eliminate the U.S. But just as big a part of that game were the four assists he tallied. He made defenses pay for the extra attention.

The tournament displayed everything he had learned and grown from. And since returning to the NBA, #FIBAFournier has largely carried over.

Most importantly for a team that lacks a clear offensive option, he has provided a consistent scoring option with increasingly more balance.

Fournier grew last year as a playmaker. Now he has added back that shooting element. With the team missing two key offensive players, the focus and attention on Fournier is even greater.

All eyes are on him again. And everyone is waiting to see if he can deliver.

"“I’m comfortable with the ball in my hands,” Fournier said after practice before leaving for the Magic’s road trip. “I try to make the right play. Last game [against the Washington Wizards] they were really collapsing on my drives, I just have to find shooters. It just depends on every game. Some games, I’m going to be used more as a catch-and-shoot guy. In those situations, there are not as many opportunities. Regardless of what is going on, I have to make the right play and that’s what I’m trying to do.”"

Passing was never the most natural thing about Fournier’s game. He is a scorer first.

And his scoring has bounced back this year. Fournier is averaging 17.7 points per game and shooting a career-best 58.2 percent effective field goal percentage (including a career-best 44.7 percent from beyond the arc).

Those career-bests are still fairly early in the season. But after last season shooting lows for his time with the Magic, it is a welcome bounce back.

Even without his shooting last year, coach Steve Clifford glowed about Evan Fournier’s play. He praised his passing — a career-best 3.6 assists per game — and his defense. Those were two things Fournier was certainly not known for last year.

This year, that has carried over with his shooting, giving Fournier some newfound value to the team. Fournier is averaging a robust 3.5 assists per game. Especially in that game against the Wizards, Fournier displayed how much he has improved as a passer, tallying 25 points to go with nine assists.

This development and continuation is more than welcome.

"“I think his development as a playmaker, the more he can do that and the better he gets at that, it adds another dimension to his game,” Clifford said before the team left on its current road trip."

His assists typically go like this. He works the ball in the pick and roll. The threat he has to pull up keeps the defense off balance. And he is able to whip the ball to the roller or out to the perimeter.

It is a simple read, but a vital one for the offense. So long as Fournier does not drive too deep into the defense with the thought to pass and he assesses whether he can get to the rim or needs to dish it out quickly, he can generally set others up for easy shots.

The Magic are putting the ball in his hands more now too. His usage rate is up to 24.3 percent, the highest of his career. Fournier is in the 85th percentile of the league in efficiency as the ball handler in pick and rolls. The team scores 1.04 points per 100 possessions when Fournier works as the ball handler.

His ability to work the mid-range game and find balance and control off the dribble again has expanded his game. It has supplemented his spot-up 3-point shooting, where he scores 1.20 points per 100 possessions on 3.1 spot-up possessions per game.

The threat of the mid-range game and his ability to stay patient and under control while attacking pick and rolls is perhaps his greatest asset. He can hit runners and floaters when the defense gives it to him. But his shooting is what unlocks everything else.

Here Fournier rubs off a screen after curling to the top of the key. He keeps the defender on his hip but never fully engages the big dropping to meet him.

Fournier has become great at creating space and rising quickly when it is presented. Teams are going to have to find a way to close that down and force him into being a playmaker.

Good shooting really frees up everything else for him. And with improved passing, Fournier has become a bigger offensive weapon. One that still needs balance — his 12.2 percent turnover rate this year is the highest since his first two years in the league — but one the Magic are using with success.

"“This year, he has been willing to make the right reads and make the right play,” Nikola Vucevic said before the team left on its road trip, noting how the World Cup gave Fournier more confidence on the ball. “It helps us. With his ability to score, teams are going to look to lock down on him and crowd him up. His ability to make those plays opens up so much. The more guys you have making plays like that, the better it is for us.”"

His defense still could use some improvement, but no one would question his effort to improve on that end. His -1.5 defensive box plus-minus is still one of the best marks of his career and the team has a regular-rotation-player-worst 105.5 defensive rating with Fournier on the floor.

Teams will probably start to blitz and crowd him more with the Magic missing two big offensive weapons. Fournier’s decisionmaking will have to become quicker and more precise.

Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic /

Orlando Magic

Still, his offense has been undeniably more of a positive. The team is +3.4 points per 100 possessions with Fournier on the floor.

Of course, all eyes are on him more than ever now.

With Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon out of the lineup for the foreseeable future, the Magic are putting more trust in Fournier to initiate and run the offense.

He largely delivered against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, scoring 26 points on 11-for-23 shooting and dishing out four assists. Once he found his footing after a rough first half where he was driving a bit too deep without moving the ball, he played perfectly between the gaps, hitting mid-range jumpers.

Fournier was still most effective working off screens and getting open shots or driving against a closing defense. Using Markelle Fultz more as the primary initiator will give Fournier a good break and more opportunities.

But even Fournier’s detractors could do nothing but praise his play.

Fournier’s 32.9 percent usage rate should give a clue to just how much the Magic relied on Fournier’s creation and play in the game. Orlando will have to find a better balance for sure — both Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac showed some ability to do a little bit more offensively than they were with the team at full strength.

But it will take more performances like this from Fournier — and plenty others — for the Magic to win while they await players to return from injury.

Focus heightens on Steve Clifford's rotation decisions. dark. Next

All eyes are squarely on Fournier now for the Magic. He has perhaps never been more prepared for the spotlight.