Evan Fournier liked the Olympics so much he decided to stay in Europe altogether
After helping France grab their second straight silver medal at this summer's Olympics in his native country, Evan Fournier has decided to continue his career on the old continent. NBA deals did not materialize for the French sharpshooter, and he has now opted to sign a two-year $4 million contract with Greek EuroLeague club Olympiacos.
The full details of the contract were broken by The Athletic's Shams Charania, but Aris Barkas of Eurohoops was the first to report that Fournier decided to accept Olympiacos' offer.
After 12 seasons, Evan Fournier is exiting the NBA and signing a two-year, $4 million-plus deal with Euroleague club Olympiacos, per sources. Fournier averaged nearly 10 points in France's Silver Medal run at the Paris Olympics. pic.twitter.com/ErFKwEJl0W
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 2, 2024
The 20th-overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, Fournier spent 12 years in the NBA playing for the Nuggets, Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, and New York Knicks. Throughout his career, Fournier scored nearly 10,000 points and ended up shooting 37 percent from beyond the arc on over 3,600 attempts.
His shooting and scoring has lost it's punch at the NBA-level over the past couple of seasons, but is still desirable to a team like Olympiacos who was in desperate need of off the dribble creation last season.
Evan Fournier signing with Olympiacos continues summer trend of more players leaving the NBA for Europe
Fournier is the 16th NBA player to sign with a EuroLeague club this summer, joining Sasha Vezenkov, Chimezie Metu, Aleksej Pokusevski, Furkan Korkmaz, Stanley Johnson*, Jordan Nwora, Armoni Brooks, Trent Forrest, Luka Samanic, Shaquille Harrison, Admiral Schofield, Wenyen Gabriel, Omer Yurtseven, Frank Ntilikina, and Usman Garuba. (*Technically only played in the G League last season.)
With the mid-level salary market in the NBA tightening under the new CBA, this trend is not surprising. Few players have been offered exception contracts and thus, have been forced to decide between an NBA minimum deal or signing overseas. Most have opted for the latter, and only PJ Dozier and Fournier's fellow Frenchmen Guerschon Yabusele have taken the path of NBA minimum deals.
Two more players are likely to follow Fournier's path: Latvian forward Davis Bertans and Turkish forward Cedi Osman. Both remain hopeful for NBA deals, but so did Fournier. Osman is reportedly a top target for Real Madrid to replace Yabusele, and Bertans is a target for multiple EuroLeague clubs.
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