By John DentonOct. 25, 2015
ORLANDO – When he’s away from basketball and enjoying free time with teammates, Orlando Magic guard/forward Evan Fournier’s two closest friends are Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris.
Those friendships could come in quite handy in the coming days for Fournier considering the deadline that he’s fast approaching.
Fournier, who will turn 23 on Thursday, is eligible to sign a contract extension with the Magic, but the deadline to do so for is Oct. 31. The 6-foot-7, 205-pound guard/forward is coming off a career year in 2014-15 and he had a solid training camp while averaging 10 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists a game.
Fournier is eligible to sign a contract extension for four years – something that he desperately wants because he is comfortable living in Orlando and he is confident about the direction the Magic are heading. However, if he and the team can’t come to an agreement by Saturday, he will become a restricted free agent on July 1 – meaning the Magic will have the right to match on any contract offer that he receives.
This is where Vucevic and Harris come in. Vucevic, Orlando’s leading scorer and rebounder last season, signed his four-year contract extension last October just days before the Halloween deadline. Harris was in a situation similar to Fournier last fall, but when he and the Magic couldn’t come to an agreement on a contract, he played out the season, had a career year and then signed a four-year deal in July.
Their advice for Fournier when the topic has come up in conversations away from the basketball court?
``Of course they’ve given me advice. Basically they are saying, `Don’t think about it,’^’’ Fournier said with a nervous chuckle. ``That’s easy (for them) to say, but, you know, that’s hard to do because your whole life will depend on that contract. It affects you, your family and your position on (the Magic). So it’s really important to me and what happens with it. But what’s most important right now is that the team plays well now and we start to win games.’’
The Magic are hoping for big things this season, starting with Wednesday night’s regular-season opener against the Washington Wizards at the Amway Center. Orlando has embraced the principles of new coach Scott Skiles – namely toughness and awareness on defense and an offense centered more around passing and cutting than dribbling – and it showed plenty of encouraging signs in the preseason. The Magic won their final five games of the exhibition season to finish at 6-2 and boost the optimism heading into the regular season.
``I think we’re getting better as a team, but we can’t be satisfied and we have to keep working and it will pay off for us,’’ Fournier said.
Fournier is hoping that his solid all-around play in his season-plus with the Magic will pay off for him. Orlando’s front office scouted Fournier – a native of France – for years when he was coming up as one of the top young players in Europe, and they jumped at the chance to acquire him in June of 2014 when the Denver Nuggets made him available.
Fournier backed up the Magic’s belief in him last season by playing the best basketball of his life. He was especially good early in the season, averaging 16 points in October, 15.4 points in November and 12 points in December before injuries marred his season. Still, he averaged a career best 12 points per game, while also chipping in 2.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and a solid 37.8 percent shooting from the 3-point line.
Not long after taking over as Magic coach, Skiles started watching game film from last season and one thing became apparent to him – Fournier helped the Magic with their spacing, shooting and finishing at the rim and the team was better with him on the floor. And the stats backed that up as Fournier averaged 14.2 points and shot 40.3 percent from the 3-point line in 32 games as a starter as opposed to 9.3 points and 34.1 percent 3-point shooting in 26 games as a reserve.
With point guard Elfrid Payton (hamstring strain) and forward Aaron Gordon (foot injuries) out much of the preseason, Fournier started six exhibition games. He was out early in training camp himself after suffering a minor ankle injury in the EuroBasket Championships this summer while playing for France. Fournier didn’t shoot the ball especially well this preseason, but he has impressed Skiles with his ability to do other things for the Magic.
``He’s a sneaky finisher and he’s played well, but we need him to shoot the ball better,’’ Skiles said. ``He hit a big shot for us (in the overtime win against New Orleans) and he’s just an all-around good player. He’s got toughness, he normally defends his spot and he’s a guy a lot of teams would like to have because of that. He’s an all-around player and it’s not like he can only do this or that – he’s an all-around good player.’’
Fournier suffered a scary moment this past Wednesday, but he showed off his toughness in pushing ahead. As he finishing off a hard drive to the rim with a dunk he was pushed from behind by a New Orleans Pelicans defender and he landed hard on his back and hip. Further complicating matters was the fact that Fournier had taken a hit the lower ribs in the previous preseason game and was already playing dinged up.
Whereas most players would have called it a night because it was merely a preseason game, Fournier pushed to get back in the game – which turned out to be a good thing for the Magic as the guard drilled the game-sealing 3-pointer in overtime.
It reminded some with the Magic of last season in Toronto when Fournier was clocked in the mouth by a Tyler Hansbrough elbow and he needed 12 stitches to close the wound to his upper lip. He fought he way back into that game as well and played well despite having a grotesquely swollen lip.
As for the fall, Fournier said: ``I’m fine and it’s probably going to be sore for a week. It could have been much, much worse. When I was in the air I had no control of my body and it was like, `Uh-oh, this is bad!’ I watched it on film and I realize now that it could have been much worse.’’
Scary moments like that make Fournier think about how the security that a contract extension before Oct. 31 would be highly beneficial to him. However, he said he’s tried his best to block out the thought of the negotiations and he’s even taken measures with his agent, Bouna Ndiaye, to help keep his focus on the season ahead for the Magic.
``To be honest, my agent doesn’t even talk to me about it. He came to Orlando last week (for contract negotiations), but I try not to think about it,’’ Fournier said. ``The most important thing for me right now is playing good basketball. But hopefully, we can work something out because I want to be here.’’
And Vucevic is obviously pulling for Fournier to stick around Orlando because of the tight bond that they have formed on and off the court.
``I know it’s hard for him to not think about it, especially with all the crazy money that’s being thrown around with the salary cap going up, but I’ve just told him to play his game and it will be taken care of,’’ Vucevic said. ``I signed early and Tobias waited, so I tell (Fournier) that either way it will be OK for him. … He’s a good friend of mine and we get along fine, but most importantly he’s a very good player, someone we need on this team and he fits what we do. He’s part of the core group that we have that we want to move forward with, so hopefully it gets figured out for him.’’