Heading into NBA Summer League, nobody was a bigger must-watch rookie than Mario Hezonja. Despite having played fewer than 16 minutes per game in each of his last two seasons with Barcelona, the Orlando Magic rolled the dice on Hezonja at No. 5 overall—before Willie Cauley-Stein, Emmanuel Mudiay, Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminsky and Justise Winslow.
The Magic ultimately took him based on sporadic flashes of brilliance and the upside that's tied to his 6'8" size, spectacular athleticism and dangerous shooting stroke.
Hezonja only played in two summer league games, but that was enough to get a feel for his progress and how he stacks up to the competition. It was also enough time for Hezonja to confirm the predraft hype as legit.
We saw his monster potential come to life on a number of plays in Orlando. But the up-and-down tempo exposed a few of his well-documented weaknesses as well.
Offense
Hezonja scored 12 points against the Los Angeles Clippers and 14 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, though those totals came on a combined 9-of-24 shooting (37.5 perc ...
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Article written by Jonathan Wasserman
Early Impressions of Mario Hezonja at 2015 NBA Summer League
July 17th, 2015 by Jonathan Wasserman Leave a reply »
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