Magic coach Jacque Vaughn praises Evan Fournier

Before the draft started, the Orlando Magic made an early trade that caught a lot of fans off guard. Orlando traded Shooting Guard Arron Afflalo for Denver Nuggets Shooting Guard Evan Fournier and the 56th pick of the NBA draft.

The trade was, deservedly so, seen by many as undervaluing Afflalo. Orlando traded a near all star level shooting guard for a low 2nd round pick and a shooting guard that had under performed so far during his 2 year NBA career. Despite all this, Magic coach Jacque Vaughn had nothing but praise for their new shooting guard.

"“What he does is he gives us another ball-handler, which is huge,” Vaughn said. “Evan can play pick-and-roll. You see from his stats this past year he can shoot the basketball, so he’ll create some space for us as well. He’s another guy that can get an outlet pass and has a good basketball IQ to make the right decision.”"

Last season Fournier averaged 8.4 points per game on 41% shooting. He did shoot 37% from three which might automatically make him the best shooter on the Magic. Fournier’s basic numbers are fine, but his advanced statistics tell a different story. When given more minutes, all of Fournier’s attempts went up but his numbers went down. This wouldn’t be bad if he was a gunner but he spent most of his time in Denver as a spot up shooter. However, it’s a little unfair to compare his first and second years because in his first year he didn’t play nearly as many games.

Fournier has been disappointing so far in his NBA career, maybe a change of scenery in Orlando is what he needs to turn it around.