Orlando Magic Daily
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5 questions for the Orlando Magic’s third quarter of the season

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Aaron Gordon and the Orlando Magic have had their struggles this year but still find themselves in a playoff spot. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
Aaron Gordon and the Orlando Magic have had their struggles this year but still find themselves in a playoff spot. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. /
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Evan Fournier, Orlando Magic
Evan Fournier has put in a stellar season but his contract status has him on the trade block for the Orlando Magic. (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /

What will the Orlando Magic do with Evan Fournier?

Evan Fournier had a disappointing 2019 season. While everyone on the team seemed to enjoy career years, Evan Fournier struggled to get himself going. Eventually, he became a liability in the playoffs (more so than Nikola Vucevic’s noted struggles) and his poor shooting likely cost the Orlando Magic a chance to win Game 3 or 4 and extend that series to six.

This was not the Fournier the Magic had grown accustomed to in four previous seasons. Orlando knew Fournier would likely be in for a bounceback season.

What they got was perhaps a season-saving turn from Fournier. He has been close to being the team’s All-Star-caliber player all year. Through the first half of the season, Fournier averaged 19.2 points per game, shooting 47.1 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from three.

Fournier, for some of his struggles as a more ball-dominant scorer at times, was vital to the team’s survival through the first half of the season. Fournier has performed as well as anyone could expect.

It seems contradictory, then, to say that Fournier might be the toughest decision for the Magic to make at the trade deadline.

Fournier has a player option on the final year of his contract in the 2021 season. That means he could become a free agent this summer.

Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic /

Orlando Magic

While the free-agent market is tight — there are not many teams with the cap room to sign Fournier even at his current $17.5 million salary — Fournier could enter as one of the best players available.

It is a weak free-agent class, to say the least.

But the Magic clearly still need Fournier. For a team that has a glaring lack of shooting, losing a player who is shooting 40-percent from 3-point range and can at least work on the ball as a secondary playmaker would be a crushing blow to the team. They at least have to consider keeping him.

But that leads to the other problem. The Magic are capped out at least for next season and have free agencies looming for Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz in the summer of 2021.

They simply cannot pay everyone and no one is satisfied with just being a 7-seed in the playoffs. Orlando has to find a way to get better and that might mean Fournier is priced off the team’s cap sheet.

From that perspective, it makes sense for the Magic to trade Fournier and get something of value in return for him. It is not likely they could use Fournier to get the star player this team missed. It would be more likely for the Magic to acquire a younger rotation-level player — fans have fixated on Denver Nuggets guard Malik Beasley or Toronto Raptors forward Norman Powell.

For the Magic, the question then is whether these deals are worth it for them. The first goal for this season is to make the playoffs. If Orlando were to make any deal, they would want to be sure first that it does not jeopardize their playoff run. And that makes it harder.

There is still the possibility, of course, that Fournier does not opt-out. The market may be too tight for him to get the salary he wants and he can try again in 2021 when more teams will have cap room (even with more competition).

There are a lot of decisions to make on all sides. It all comes to a head at the Feb. 6 trade deadline.