NBA Draft: Who is Mario Hezonja

The Bad

The hardest thing for a young player — a young person — is consistency. How do you handle adversity? How do you handle things when it is not going your way?

That is the biggest question going against Hezonja.

For all the bravado and confidence he exudes when things go well, the reputation on him is he pouts when he misses a shot and loses focus defensively when the offense is not working for him. That is not the makeup of a great player. The great players take pride on the defensive end.

Especially for the Magic, they seem to value the defensive end of the floor. They have drafted players — Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon — who care more about their defensive effort and intensity than whether a shot is going in or not. All three of those players are still figuring themselves out in the league, but undoubtedly all three have an inner drive.

That is what the defensive end of the floor usually shows — an inner intensity to improve and get better. Hezonja is still learning how to show that and bring that consistently to both ends of the floor. It will be something he has to work on as he matures.

And, as with many other young players, he still goes for the flashy play rather than the simple one. He will make mistakes in transition or think his skills can carry him past less skilled defenders. This may work some of the time, but it will not work all of the time.

Even his great passing highlights have him making little fundamental mistakes — jumping on passes, for instance. Those errors will only get magnified at the NBA level.

Hezonja is going to have to settle into a system and refine these skills, becoming more precise with his attacks and his play. A lot of young players need to do this though, so how much of a concern is this really?

For the Magic, it is more an issue of culture and whether he fits what they are trying to build. They also need some offense though and that is what Hezonja is best at, at the end of the day. Maybe that risk makes it worth it since the Magic are preparing to start winning and need that scoring potential on the perimeter.

Next: Brett's Take