Magic guard Evan Fournier is exercising his $17MM player option for the 2020/21 season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Fournier, 28, will return to Orlando and bypass free agency. He’s spent the past six seasons with the Magic, averaging 18.5 points and 3.2 assists per game last year.
The Magic are still waiting for James Ennis‘ official decision on his player option, worth $2.1MM, and also have D.J. Augustin and Michael Carter-Williams set to become unrestricted free agents. In addition, the team could extend qualifying offers to Wesley Iwundu ($2MM) and Gary Clark ($1.8MM) in order to make them restricted free agents.
Orlando finished with the eighth-best record in the Eastern Conference last season at 33-40. The club sports a talented young core consisting of Aaron Gordon, Mohamed Bamba, Jonathan Isaac, Markelle Fultz and others.
Fournier’s option decision pushes the Magic’s total guaranteed salaries up to approximately $113MM, all but guaranteeing that the club will operate over the cap in 2020/21.