Mario Hezonja is one of the great mysteries for the Orlando Magic. Whether the Magic are successful might lie on whether they can develop their sophomore.
The Orlando Magic are trying to make the Playoffs. They pushed their chips to the center of the table with several trades that sacrificed the future for some present gain. The Magic are not in the rebuilding business anymore. They need players who can contribute now.
Everyone is going to have to make some immediate contributions.
For a player like Aaron Gordon, that time is almost certainly now to prove he can make an immediate contribution. Gordon has been in the league two years and has yet to define himself as a player. The Magic have a season to make an extension decision and then another year to make their final financial investment in Gordon.
Elfrid Payton is in much the same boat. The Magic youngsters are going to get pushed to do more and be more for the team this season.
That leaves the biggest question remaining to the Magic’s most important young player. The one with the most to prove this season as he sets his career.
Second-year player Mario Hezonja will be caught in a bit of a pickle career wise.
He is a player with immense talent but a long way to go. His rookie season was uneven as he played under a demanding coach. His minutes were inconsistent at 17.9 per game and it was hard to tell very much from him.
The Magic would bring him along slowly as they were going for wins last season too. But they never let him loose of his leash even when the Playoffs were long gone.
Orlando again will put winning as its priority this season. It leaves little room to develop a player like Hezonja. He will not have the opportunity to make mistakes. Figuring out how to develop Hezonja right and get some contribution from him immediately while building him up will be one of Frank Vogel’s biggest tasks this coming season.
Hezonja last year was mediocre at best. The fifth overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft averaged 6.1 points per game and shot 34.9 percent from beyond the arc. He rarely showed the athleticism or shooting that made him that high of a draft pick. It was hard to get a handle on him.
Hezonja showed some of the role he could play during the Olympics. He was effective as a jump shooter and spot-up player. When he got in transition, he was able to give Croatia a good opportunity to score.
But even that was a bit of a disappointment. Hezonja was relegated to a spot-up shooter exclusively. The Magic did not have him on the ball much. It is hard to say exactly what Hezonja can or could be for the Magic.
And this year, they do not have the time to find out. They need to put someone on the floor in a role they know they can produce.
Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer went through some of Hezonja’s more notable games and the common thread for Hezonja was simply given time.
In games where Hezonja played more than 20 minutes, he averaged 11.9 points per game. Even then, the Magic never really featured Hezonja. They did not have him take advantage of smaller players when he had smaller players on him or run him off screens excessively when he had slower players on him.
From there, it is unclear where Hezonja fits and where his minutes will come from. The Magic will likely use Aaron Gordon at small forward. Jeff Green will get minutes there too. And Evan Fournier may grab some minutes at the three. Jodie Meeks and C.J. Wilcox will also push for playing time. Meeks, especially, is a veteran that can be more dependable when he is healthy.
Hezonja will have to earn everything still.
The Magic should give him the opportunity. Obviously they invested a lot in him in the fifth overall pick. And Hezonja is capable of succeeding.
The great challenge is ensuring Hezonja continues to improve all while filling the role the Magic need from him. That is always a difficult challenge for a coach with win-now direction.
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How do you balance helping young players along while still growing the young player to become better?
That was a balance Scott Skiles struggled with when it came to Hezonja. Hezonja did improve as the year went on, but had a long way to go. His leash was unnecessarily short. It looked like his confidence was decreasing. That legendary swagger was disappearing.
Hezonja appeared to pick some of that up again in the Olympics. He will have to carry that over into the regular season with a new coach and a slew of new teammates.
Vogel’s ability to manage Hezonja though will be the barometer for whether his tenure as the Magic’s coach can be successful or not. Skiles was a coach who focused solely on winning. He sacrificed some development because he was not going to stomach any mistake.
Vogel appears to be more lenient. He will not stick with a player making mistakes for long, but he seems to come from more of a player development background.
Hezonja still figures to play an important role for the Magic. He figures to come off the bench and add to a big scoring, shooting second unit. He could be someone who takes a more starring role, given some more freedom than he did on a team that did not have the same depth last season.
Handling Hezonja this season will be the big barometer for whether the Magic are successful or not. They are relying on him to get better and contribute to this year, while still showing promise and room to grow. Vogel has to foster that growth.
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And if Hezonja can deliver, the Magic will be in very good shape for the long term. If he cannot, it will be interesting to see where he and the Magic go next. And whether the Magic can succeed without him this year.