Every meeting between the Knicks and the Bulls is special for Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic, former teammates and especially friends in life. But the last meeting did not have the same flavor since the Frenchman is now at the end of the bench, and the only shots he takes are during warm-up.
“It’s hard (for him). But what I know of him is that he is a huge competitor. He plays to win. He will give everything assures the Montenegrin. “It is clear that it is difficult for him not to be able to play. Especially since he is in the best years of his career, and is also coming off a good season. »
For the pivot of the Bulls, the reaction of his friend is exemplary. He does not sulk, does not attack the coach, and he continues to work while biding his time. In New York or elsewhere.
“People know his value, his qualities and his level of play. It’s not as if he was useless and lost his talent”
“It sucks for him not to play, but what I respect about him is that he stays professional in the middle of it all. He supports his teammates a lot. We will never hear him say bad things or something negative in the press. It is respected. It’s tough for someone who is at the top of their game, and who is highly respected in the NBA. Just being out of rotation is very hard to take. »
But Vucevic remains optimistic. His buddy is too talented to sit around until the end of the season. He remains convinced that the profile of Fournier can interest franchises. We talked about the Lakers recently.
“He has a lot of qualities. His shooting is very good. He is very good in the two-player game. He’s a very smart player. Players like him are highly sought after in the NBA.” concludes Vucevic. “I don’t want to make waves, but if it doesn’t happen with the Knicks, I’m sure it will happen somewhere else. What is not worrying is that people know his value, his qualities and his level of play. It’s not as if he was useless and lost his talent. He always played well. It’s just a choice of Thibs, who feels it’s best for the team. You have to respect him because he is the coach. But I think Evan still has a very important place in the NBA.
| Evan Fournier | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2012-13 | DEN | 38 | 11 | 49.3 | 40.7 | 76.9 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 5.3 |
| 2013-14 | DEN | 76 | 20 | 41.9 | 37.6 | 75.6 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 8.4 |
| 2014-15 | ENT | 58 | 29 | 44.0 | 37.8 | 72.8 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 12.0 |
| 2015-16 | ENT | 79 | 33 | 46.2 | 40.0 | 83.6 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 15.4 |
| 2016-17 | ENT | 68 | 33 | 43.9 | 35.6 | 80.5 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.1 | 17.2 |
| 2017-18 | ENT | 57 | 32 | 45.9 | 37.9 | 86.7 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 17.8 |
| 2018-19 | ENT | 81 | 32 | 43.8 | 34.0 | 80.6 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 15.1 |
| 2019-20 | ENT | 66 | 31 | 46.7 | 39.9 | 81.8 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 18.5 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 42 | 30 | 45.7 | 41.3 | 78.8 | 0.2 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 17.1 |
| 2020-21 * | ENT | 26 | 30 | 46.1 | 38.8 | 79.7 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 19.7 |
| 2020-21 * | BOS | 16 | 30 | 44.8 | 46.3 | 71.4 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 13.0 |
| 2021-22 | NYK | 80 | 30 | 41.7 | 38.9 | 70.8 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 14.1 |
| 2022-23 | NYK | 13 | 20 | 34.4 | 33.3 | 81.8 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 6.9 |
| Total | 658 | 29 | 44.4 | 38.0 | 79.9 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 14.2 | |
