Mario Hezonja must fight through lack of opportunity

Mario Hezonja has gotten a nice run of playing time of late and has played well. He still must fight through a lack of opportunity to crack the rotation.

Circumstances finally broke Mario Hezonja’s way. They were not ideal, of course, the Orlando Magic were getting blown out. Any chance to get on the floor, though, in a game situation is valuable for the young player who has been out of the rotation for nearly two months. And Hezonja had to make the most of these minutes, even if they were virtually meaningless.

Hezonja flashed out to the wing and popped a 3. It went through just as everyone imagined it would when the Magic made him the fifth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. And it happened a few more times. Those flashes of what he could do when given the chance.

Hezonja now only checks into the game when it is already decided. The last time he played in a game that was ultimately decided by fewer than 10 points was his six and a half minutes against the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 10. He struggled that game as he lost Juancho Hernangomez for four 3-pointers, allowing Hernangomez to score his career high.

Hezonja checked in during that second quarter, struggled and never returned. And he has not gotten those meaningful minutes since, even with Evan Fournier out for five games with a bruised heel.

Hezonja is squarely out of the rotation. And even with questions about C.J. Watson‘s play and his value to the team, Hezonja just could not sneak his way back with the opportunity Evan Fournier’s injury opened up.

All Hezonja could do was grind with the opportunities he was given.

“With Mario, it’s never about effort,” coach Frank Vogel said. “He plays extremely hard. I don’t expect when he first gets back in there to be really sharp. It’s tough to do that when you’re not practicing and not playing any games. But I want him to the best of his ability to make good decisions with his shot selection, his choices off the bounce and be in the right spot on the defensive end.”

That would suggest Vogel expects Hezonja to get back into the rotation at some point before the end of the season. It may very well be Vogel is doing a slow development with Hezonja, focusing more on work behind the scenes rather than putting him in games. There may be more of an eye toward his third season than this season.

Hezonja has played well in this recent run of games. He has 18 points in his last four appearances, spanning 20:28 of game time. That includes a 10-point, 4-for-6 shooting performance playing the entire fourth quarter in the loss to the Charlotte Hornets last week.

Hezonja has shot 60.0 percent (6 for 10) from the floor and 57.1 percent (4 for 7) from beyond the arc in that stretch. That is an overall good sign for Hezonja. Surely one of the reasons he left the rotation was his cold shooting — Hezonja is still shooting 35.6 percent from the floor and 25.6 percent from beyond the arc for the season.

Perhaps more impressively, Hezonja is showing some better understanding defensively. Although it is far from perfect. In one play against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, Hezonja got beat backdoor in a momentary lapse after his man passed the ball, but recovered to make a nice block at the rim.

This is part of the vast talent Hezonja has. These minutes can help him sort through this and gain more opportunity in the future.

But Vogel said he does not put a lot of stock into these minutes. He said it is difficult to evaluate a player in those “garbage time” situations.

Certainly playing well in these minutes cannot be a bad thing in the end. It may very well unlock some doors in practice to get an opportunity to impress. But his play late in blowouts is not going get him more minutes. That must still be done against rotation players in practice.

It is clear effort is not the issue for Hezonja. By all reports, Hezonja puts his time in the gym as much as anyone else. A lot of his issues are learning better positioning and experience. And that is the contradiction of his current situation.

Hezonja cannot seem to improve and get more minutes because he lacks opportunity. But he cannot get into games because he lacks experience and trust from the coaching staff.

Orlando’s current feelings toward Hezonja are unknown. They could still really believe in him and just feel this is the best way to bring him along for the long term while the team makes its Playoff push. Or they could view him as a potential trade chip with the February deadline upcoming. Someone likely still believes in his potential somewhere.

The reality, for now, is Hezonja is having a tough time getting playing time or cracking the rotation. With the Magic’s January schedule in full swing, there is just little practice time for Hezonja to show much of anything.

Orlando will have some practice time on the road, but Vogel may also be concerned with saving his players’ legs too — Vogel admitted before Wednesday’s game he is still getting used to the travel from Florida and the long miles the Magic log based on geography.

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Hezonja will remain a player full of potential wasting on the bench. When that opportunity comes, Hezonja will have to take advantage if he wants to make good on that potential.