Evan Fournier
Detroit Pistons

Player Facts

Height: 6'7"
Weight: 205lbs.

Wingspan: 6'7.5"

Date of Birth: Oct. 29, 1992
College Experience: N/A

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 6
Physical Strength: 5
Positional Size: 8
Positional Wingspan: 7
Paint Scoring: 6
Midrange Scoring: 7
Three-Point Scoring: 8
Dribbling: 7
Passing: 6
Perimeter Defense: 4
Interior Defense: 3
Rebounding: 3

Embed from Getty Images

JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Two-Point Scoring

> Using Ball Screens to Produce

> Perimeter Shooting

> Attacking with Conviction

> Defensive Work

> Dying on Screens

> More Defensive Shortcomings

> Offensive Weaknesses

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

*All short clips courtesy of Smart Highlights & NF (YouTube),

*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

The 6'7" Evan Fournier brings great size at two-guard. A skilled shooter, he's versatile offensively and can play the on-ball or off-ball role. The Frenchman uses all three levels to score the basketball at a rock-solid level.

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Two-Point Scoring

Dribble-handoff sets are a key component inside of Evan's game. He'll rise and fire if there's an immediate shooting window or otherwise attack and see what's available. He'll happily take the open midrange shot, on which he shot above 45% in 2021-2022.

With his size, Fournier finishes well at the iron. Besides his great positional size, he also has a 6'7.5" wingspan in tow. These takes tend to begin with the handoff to get him going downhill rather than a dribble-heavy isolation episode.

He's a below-the-rim guy but can finish softly with either hand and recorded a 67% accuracy at the rim in 2019-2020. That's a sensational clip for an off-guard. It bested taller, lankier players such as Pascal Siakam, Jayson Tatum, and Domantas Sabonis. He's since dropped off a bit in this capacity but remains solid in the short midrange area.

Handoffs are genuinely a sizable chunk of Evan's offensive output. As long as he has even a partially able big to play with, he'll make it work.

Fournier was in the top-eight in both 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 for the most points totaled off handoffs. 2021-2022 had him in the 77th percentile for DHO scoring as a Knick. He doesn't wait around even after passing it back to his big - he'll promptly cut or relocate.

Using Ball Screens to Produce

He's comfortable as an operator of the screen-and-roll. Fournier plays with good pace in his chances here, able to burn the defense in multiple ways. He actively ensures that he is not a predictable player to guard by mixing up these sequences with drives, midrangers, and triples.

Fournier is also a fan of various floater types around the free throw line. He's a nimble slasher with an inclination towards these teardrops as well as Eurostep layups.

He polished off 2019-2020 in the 77th percentile through his heavily diversified pick-and-roll initiator scoring. More recently, 2021-2022 saw him notch 195 points on the season as the initiator of these actions. He was just behind rock-solid P&R names like Monte Morris and Terry Rozier.

Evan pairs his screen-and-roll bucket-getting with some solid playmaking feel. He's good at finding his screen setter on-time and on-target with the feed. Combining 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, Fournier provided exactly 200 assists to his five-man Nikola Vucevic. Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson are now go-to targets in New York.

Perimeter Shooting

A true professional shooter, Evan slides along the perimeter to make it easy for a driving teammate. After making himself visible, Evan catches and unleashes his concise one-motion jumper (a hair under 40% on spot-up threes in 2021-2022). Fournier is comfortable taking a pound dribble to dodge aggressive defenders running out.

He connected on 42.8% of his catch-and-shoots from deep in 2019-2020. In the 84th percentile on spot-ups, Evan's 1.17 points per possession here outpaced guys like Bojan Bogdanovic, Tobias Harris, and P.J. Tucker. He maneuvers smartly and with purpose without the basketball, willingly cutting backdoor against overplays.

Attacking with Conviction

The savvy swingman repeatedly has a plan in mind prior to the catch. You can tell this is the case based on how decisively he'll move upon the catch, contributing to him being a robust off-ball player. He can attack to score or to make plays for others against a rotating defense.

Defensive Work

Evan is a solid team defender who understands schemes and allows them to guide his actions. With that good size on the wing, his presence makes a difference on interior rotations and shot contests alike. His overall three-point defense is respectable, with his direct opponents shooting below their typical three-point clip in 2017-2018, 2019-2020, and 2021-2022.

All things considered, Evan is a shade below average as a defender. With his size and understanding of positioning, he overcomes some of his other defensive holes to a degree. Unfortunately, starter-level perimeter players in the NBA are expected to be very versatile and valuable defenders unless they're near-elite at the other end.

WEAKNESSES

Dying on Screens

Fournier's relatively mediocre athleticism, namely his weak defensive agility, renders him a soft point of attack defender. He defended the second-most handoffs in 2018-2019 and conceded the highest points per possession out of the top six volume group here.

Evan guarded the fourth-most handoffs in 2019-2020 behind Royce O'Neale, CJ McCollum, and Joe Ingles, landing miserably into the 17th defensive percentile. Overall, he just doesn't fight hard enough to get around opposing bigs.

More Defensive Shortcomings

Evan is not someone you would describe as a defensive playmaker. His defensive rebounding, steals, and blocks averages are all relatively low for the high-minute Fournier. Beyond these, he rarely draws charges, seldom recovers loose balls, and fails to record many deflections.

He is unable to show that he can be a consistent difference maker on the glass at 6'7". Fournier is not the strongest or most physical guy down in the paint. He isn't comfortable in or around the key on defense nor does it give the squad much value despite his size.

He'll ball-watch or begin to leak out rather than putting his body on an opponent to prevent offensive boards. With 6'7" wings like Gordon Hayward giving you 5-7 rebounds a night, Evan has never even reached 4 per game for a full season.

Offensive Weaknesses

Fournier can be streaky as an off-the-dribble shooter. Three-point shooting is his calling card on offense so he should be a more dependable source of accuracy.

Between 2016-2017 and 2019-2020, he only shot above 32% on pull-up threes once. He had more accurate years here in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, though the volume isn't where you would like it to be.

His shot creation is knocked down a peg because of the athletic deficiencies that similarly plagued his defense. Fournier needs a ball screen to get some separation for a good look. He was in only the 28th percentile scoring on straight isolations in 2021-2022. All of this is to say, Evan is overextended when tasked with being any more than a third option.

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