Lack of opportunity stunting Mario Hezonja’s growth

There is no denying Mario Hezonja has not played well this season. But the lack of playing time for Hezonja has been questionable due to the team’s struggles as a whole as opposed to just Hezonja.

The 2017 regular season started with a lot of hope and aspirations for the Orlando Magic, the goal was to make the playoffs. The franchise was ready to put the rebuild process behind them and finally make their first postseason appearance since Dwight Howard‘s departure.

The Magic hoped to do this building through the draft, using high draft picks as the bedrocks for the team and its core pieces. The final player in that puzzle was the fifth overall pick from the 2015 NBA Draft — Mario Hezonja.

With that backdrop, many fans expected a lot from Hezonja in his sophomore season. He was supposed to be the scoring boost off the Magic’s bench.

That scenario did not go as planned, to say the least. Hezonja struggled to start the season and was quickly out of Frank Vogel’s rotation after the first eight games. His struggles to start the year cost him playing time. It was a bump in the road in his young NBA career.

The Magic players, in all, struggled through the first eight games. It is a fair statement to say Hezonja was not the only one on the team that struggled to start the year.

The whole team was learning a new system and a new coaching staff all while learning new teammates. It was a drawn out process. The team expectedly struggled to pick up wins early in the season.

While others struggled, Hezonja did not seem to receive the benefit of the doubt. A slippage in a defensive play would be an adequate reason for his departure from the rotation, but the other options did not do much better. Jeff Green struggled to go through off-ball screens and often get lost on defense or D.J. Augustin did not do a good job guarding the pick-and-roll defense.

Those players did not get penalized for defensive mistakes. It was the young Mario Hezonja that got the consequence of the early Magic struggles.

               Orlando Magic Player Statistics First 8 Games of Regular Season

It can be seen in the table above that out of the nine players in the rotation the first eight games of the season, only three players shot better than 45 percent from the field. The shooting percentages throughout the team were very ugly. It was only a couple players on the roster that started the season off in the right direction.

The other five out of the six players that shot worse than 45 percent continued to get playing time. Mario Hezonja, though, fell out of the rotation.

Hezonja was no offensive savant as his shooting numbers were worse than anyone else in the rotation. But neither was anyone else. The Magic settled in as the worst shooting team in the league and one of the worst offenses in the league. They have not budged from that spot.

Hezonja’s ouster from the rotation frustrated fans, hoping to see more from the fifth overall pick of a year ago.

Even though Vogel echoed the mantra of “trusting our veterans” as an explanation, it was clear the supposed veterans were not playing well either.

The Magic never gave Hezonja consistent minutes, which made it even more difficult for him to transition into the NBA game as a young player.

Last season, former coach, Scott Skiles gave Mario Hezonja consistent minutes throughout the season. Hezonja showed flashes at times, as he adapted well to the NBA level his rookie year. He shot 43.3 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from the 3-point line.

He would turn in a big game or two, scoring 21 points in a win over the Chicago Bulls late in the season. His defense required some work, but the Magic could count on him to make big shots. That kept him in the rotation throughout the season.

Even last season, patience with Hezonja paid off. Hezonja struggled to start the year off, shooting 37.1 percent from the field and 24.2 percent from beyond the 3-point line in his first 15 games. But as the season rolled on, he showed significant improvements.

Those are the performances that gave Magic fans hope about their rookie. And the trade of Victor Oladipo this summer was another glimmer of hope for Magic fans that believed in Hezonja.

The belief was Hezonja would receive additional minutes. And, with the help of the defensive-minded Frank Vogel and some rim protectors behind him, he may develop into an average defender.

Orlando Magic

That has not worked out that way. And Hezonja instead has wasted away on the bench — averaging just 9.9 minutes per game while appearing in just 35 of the team’s 50 games. Hezonja appeared to fall out of the rotation once again — he did not play in the previous two games after playing meaningful minutes in the six that came before it.

Even with shooting guards Jodie Meeks and Evan Fournier out of the lineup, Hezonja struggled to get consistent playing time.

With the current season slipping away, the Magic must set their priorities on developing their young players, especially Hezonja. Hezonja has not been able to play through his mistakes, as many players early on in their careers learn.

The Magic’s main focus must be to give Hezonja more opportunities to step on the floor. They have simply invested too much in Hezonja.

The organization clearly has faith in Mario Hezonja. It has been a frustrating season for sure. Even Rob Hennigan admitted in his radio interviews last week they expected more from Hezonja.

Next: Evaluating the Orlando Magic's long-term future

But now is the time to see what he can do. He just needs to step on the court and deliver to earn the trust of the coaching staff.