After an abysmal 2017 season, Mario Hezonja looks to be hanging onto his NBA career by a thread. Can he turn it around and prove his worth as a former top-5 pick?
What a difference a year makes.
It was only two years ago Orlando Magic fans, and many other NBA observers were extremely excited about Mario Hezonja. Hezonja, the fifth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, was known as a young, brash, sweet-shooting, athletic wing, with little playing time for Barcelona in Spain.
Hezonja, erupted a few times in Spain and it seemed as though his game would translate far better to the NBA than it did in Europe. Especially with the emphasis on playing older veterans in Europe. Leading up to the draft, Hezonja made a myriad of statements that endeared himself to NBA fans, including saying soccer star Lionel Messi should come see him play instead of Hezonja going to see him play.
After a solid rookie season, many expected to see Hezonja take a big leap last year. But things did not materialize that way. Hezonja by almost any measure was one of the worst players in the entire NBA last season. Hezonja shot 35 percent overall from the field last year and only 30 percent from deep to pile on.
There are plenty of reasons why Hezonja could have struggled last year including coach Frank Vogel’s new offensive system. Hezonja was far from the only Magic player to post unbelievably bad numbers from the field last year. Additionally, Hezonja was playing on the bench with the worst net rating in the NBA last year.
Heck, recently Hezonja revealed he played the entire season through some kind of tendon injury. So again, there are plenty of reasons for Hezonja to have struggled last year.
But with a new regime led by president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman in charge, Hezonja is now on short notice. Hezonja is not guaranteed a spot in the rotation thanks to the roster Weltman and company constructed. If Hezonja ends up playing he will have to earn it.
What To Look For
This is probably the most pivotal basketball season in Mario Hezonja’s life. Hezonja has a chance to prove he is a NBA-caliber player. And, if he fails to do that, he could very well find himself back overseas next year.
But Hezonja has proclaimed time and time again that playing in the NBA and being great is his dream. Hezonja will not give up easily. It will be interesting to see how he responds to the challenge.
The big thing to look for will be the battle between veteran Arron Afflalo and Mario Hezonja for what one would think would be the last wing minutes available to Orlando off the bench. You can pencil in Evan Fournier, Terrence Ross and Jonathon Simmons as wing players for Orlando that will certainly be in the rotation.
Based on last year’s rotation, Frank Vogel is unlikely to rely on only three players to play on the wing. That leaves Arron Afflalo, Mario Hezonja and an outside shot for Jonathan Isaac to play the remaining wing minutes.
Afflalo is an established NBA veteran who is a proven threat from the corners but his defense has slipped dramatically the past four seasons or so. Afflalo is also more of a shooting guard only due to his size. This is where Hezonja can potentially knock Afflalo out of the rotation. Hezonja, for all his faults last year, significantly improved on the defensive end during the year.
Orlando Magic
Hezonja, is also significantly bigger, longer and more athletic than Afflalo. Mario Hezonja fits the mold of what Jeff Weltman wants in this players: Multi-positional players with size and skill. Hezonja even recorded some minutes at power forward last year. He certainly fits that bill better.
But the thing that could hold Hezonja out of the rotation may be the simplest thing in basketball: Shot-making.
Hezonja was thought to be a good shot-maker coming into the draft. The Magic even saw some of it displayed during his rookie year. Unfortunately that all disappeared last season. Hezonja is going to have to light it up during training camp to prove that last year’s disappearing act was a fluke.
Having a rotation player shoot 35/30 just is not a viable option for a team that had an anemic bench and possesses alternative options.
What Could Go Wrong
What could go wrong for Mario Hezonja is fairly straightforward: He could repeat last season.
Being even remotely the same player as last season likely means Hezonja is going to find himself booted right out of the NBA.
As mentioned before, last season’s shooting splits of 35/30 are not NBA-caliber numbers, especially coming from a supposed scorer. If Hezonja cannot shoot, it is hard to justify putting him on the floor.
Another possible way for Hezonja’s season to go wrong would be for Frank Vogel once again to rely on veteran presence without the payoff. Vogel last season found himself relying on guys such as Jeff Green and C.J. Watson over other players even though Watson and Green had done absolutely nothing on the court to earn that playing time. They did not produce much more than Hezonja.
If Frank Vogel were to bury Mario Hezonja for Arron Afflalo, who was shooting 33 percent from deep and not playing passable defense, Hezonja could find himself out of the league for reasons beyond his control.
Vogel has been known to make some baffling rotation decisions as coach. Indiana Pacers fans complained about it, and Orlando Magic fans definitely experienced it last year.
Hezonja will have to outplay some veteran players and overcome this seeming infatuation with veteran players.
Will the real Mario Hezonja please stand up?
The real question many NBA observers are asking themselves right now is: Who is the real Mario Hezonja?
Is he the sweet shooting athlete we saw overseas, in the Olympics, and during flashes of his rookie season? Or is he the abysmal, lost guy they saw last year?
In his rookie season there were real positives about Hezonja’s game. Even while being coached by a quitting Scott Skiles. Hezonja showed a real love for the game. He showed his overwhelming confidence late in games. He managed to show his creativity passing the ball. You can watch his rookie mixtape and honestly remember the moment you saw all of his plays live.
Hezonja was a bona fide spectacle his rookie year.
But last season all anyone remembers is Hezonja bricking shot after shot. It did not matter whether he was wide open from deep, or if he was trying to put in a point-blank layup. Things were not going Hezonja’s way and it snowballed in ugly fashion.
Hezonja may be under an immense amount of pressure due to new management and their non-binding loyalty to him, but there is another side to that argument.
With new management here Hezonja can endear himself to them.
In all reality, Hezonja fits the player archetype Jeff Weltman and John Hammond are looking for far better than any other wing on the Magic. Mario Hezonja is bigger and more athletic than any of Terrence Ross, Evan Fournier, Jonathon Simmons or Arron Afflalo. In fact, Hezonja resembles the archetype of second-round pick Wesley Iwundu far more than any other wing player on the roster.
If Hezonja were to have a breakout season, it is quite possible he could supplant a current wing as the starter of the future. Remember, even though Hezonja is owed no loyalty by this front office neither is Fournier. In addition to that Ross only has one more season after this one under contract.
Everything is in flux. There are a lot of opportunities.
The new Magic front office is a double-edged sword for Hezonja. Which side of the sword Hezonja will face will depend entirely on which Hezonja shows up this season.
Overall Outlook
The outlook for Mario Hezonja this season is completely murky. It is hard to tell whether or not Mario Hezonja is ahead of Arron Afflalo in the rotation at this point or not. The unfortunate reality for Hezonja is his entire season may depend on who wins that spot coming out of camp.
If Hezonja can prove himself to be a 3-and-D wing with some skills during camp, then Hezonja has a fighting chance at carving out a role throughout the season, barring a repeat of his shooting performance last season.
If Hezonja were to lose that spot in camp, then things could go south quickly.
As we all know, Frank Vogel is very stubborn when it comes to changing his rotations, especially when it comes to his veteran players. The Magic may look to get Hezonja some work in the G-League, but who knows what that could result in.
If Mario were to go to the G-League how would he react? Would he embrace the playing time or would he be disappointed and mope about the decision? If he struggled in the G-League, that may shatter whatever remained of his overwhelming confidence.
Hezonja is going to have to do his work early in order to put his career back on track. Based on last season, Hezonja needs to start with small steps. The first step is winning a rotation spot in training camp and re-establishing his NBA skills.
The second step for him would be to make shots at a better clip than his rookie season. From that point, we can talk about increasing role and splitting time with Orlando’s other wings.
Next: 2018 Orlando Magic Player Outlook: Elfrid Payton
The only thing certain about Hezonja’s outlook this season is that if he does not perform his NBA career may be over before it ever really had a chance to take off.