Woj bomb- Magic decline Hezonja's 4th year Option

[T-Cat]

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Chad Ford is now 0-2 on European prospects becoming superstar players, Darko and now Hezonja!

[King Close]

Kinda sad thinking back when we drafted him, and all the hype. Dude had size, elite shooting coming in, extremely athletic, killer mentality, to bad it hasn't worked out (yet).

I remember hearing people say how he could come into the NBA, and in his rookie year he could win the 3 Pt contest, and the dunk contest. Crazy how things pan out sometimes, hopefully he starts to figure it out very soon so he can build up his value for us at the very least.

[Knightro]

I do actually feel like a George Hill to Orlando deal could be brewing this season. Once Sac realise they’re out of the playoff picture (which will be soon), they’ll wanna just hand the reigns to Fox.

Hill can't be dealt for another 6 weeks - Dec 14th to be specific.

I actually like the idea of George Hill the player, but he makes $20M this year and $19M next year. Hard to find a workable deal unless they'd somehow take Biyombo.

Hill - $20M
Carter -8M

for

Biyombo - 17M
Augustin - 7.25M
Hezonja - 3.9M

Money is pretty much equal.

[Magic#1]

It's crazy how his shot hasn't translated. Looking back, I think this is when Rob and Co. started getting desperate to win and drafted for need rather than talent. IIRC, it was rumored we liked Turner and Booker as well. If only...

[Max Power]

Not surprised at all. Was brought in as a shooter and simply hasn’t lived up to it in the NBA. He was what, 19 when we drafted him? I bet he ends up back in Europe, improves, then perhaps gets another shot down the road.


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[fklt]

and there was this. he really teased us in his first pre-season.


man, it's weird that he doesn't even have harkless level of value top 55 protected pick.

[Magic4champ]

I understand the position of the front office not committing money and evaluate mario for a year. I think it's on Mario to prove us wrong. He still has the chance to prove his worth, but rookies Isaac and Iwundu are way ahead in terms of development. Hope he can salvage his nba career with the magic.

[OrlandoDream]

I do actually feel like a George Hill to Orlando deal could be brewing this season. Once Sac realise they’re out of the playoff picture (which will be soon), they’ll wanna just hand the reigns to Fox.

Hill can't be dealt for another 6 weeks - Dec 14th to be specific.

I actually like the idea of George Hill the player, but he makes $20M this year and $19M next year. Hard to find a workable deal unless they'd somehow take Biyombo.

Hill - $20M
Carter -8M

for

Biyombo - 17M
Augustin - 7.25M
Hezonja - 3.9M

Money is pretty much equal.

We are gonna need to throw in a pick to force the Kings to commit to two more years after this season of Biz and DJ. Mario isn't enough incentive since he will be an UFA now.

I do like Hill as a fit with this team. If Fox continues to play well(which he will) George Hill could be on the table.

[Skybox]

So what are the ramifications/scenarios? We have his Bird rights. If we trade him, do the Bird rights go with him? Is that meaningful in a package trade? (Mario, DJ, and a pick for Bledsoe)

I still think he's going to do better somewhere else, but I can't fault them for passing on a $5m deal before he shows anything. If I were a team with nothing to lose, I'd roll the dice on Mario being reborn. Magic are lucky enough to not really be in that position right now

[Statlanta]

I think the ramifications are this is management saying play well or we ship you. #Warlando or not we have no emotional ties to your stock. Perform or leave because we are getting rid of our connections to Rob Hennigan.

[rcklsscognition]

I understand the position of the front office not committing money and evaluate mario for a year. I think it's on Mario to prove us wrong. He still has the chance to prove his worth, but rookies Isaac and Iwundu are way ahead in terms of development. Hope he can salvage his nba career with the magic.

This isn't about about proving anyone wrong. Mario will not be on the Magic next year. They have been trying to move him for months it is mutual and he will be gone. The ship has sailed.

[bargnanimvp]

I think the ramifications are this is management saying play well or we ship you. #Warlando or not we have no emotional ties to your stock. Perform or leave because we are getting rid of our connections to Rob Hennigan.

rumours are we've been shopping him for months and him and his agent want us to move him, he's done

[Howard Mass]

It's not a surprise.

Hezonja has lacked the confidence and just never panned out here.

I had hoped he'd be traded as a throw-in to get a better player but it is what it is.

I wish The Magic had just taken Cauley-Stein.

[yoyojw17]

Sadly the high point of his career is going to be that he gave us the phrase 'pooper mario'

There was a few days after he did a sweet dunk in summer league a few years ago where people thought he would become a legit allstar wing... has all been downhill from there.

To be honest, i personally wouldnt have given up on him quite yet. I think we underestimate how young Mario is in his head. People mature at different rates and Mario is a young guy in the head, regardless of his actual age. He has good work ethic, and has clear talent, and i still think he can get it all sorted out if he can mature a bit.

I mean, hes still 22 years old.

exactly how i felt about him. whelp.... hope he gets his head right and 100% in the game.

[tiderulz]

So what are the ramifications/scenarios? We have his Bird rights. If we trade him, do the Bird rights go with him? Is that meaningful in a package trade? (Mario, DJ, and a pick for Bledsoe)

I still think he's going to do better somewhere else, but I can't fault them for passing on a $5m deal before he shows anything. If I were a team with nothing to lose, I'd roll the dice on Mario being reborn. Magic are lucky enough to not really be in that position right now

if you dont take the option, i didnt think you get bird rights. and i know i heard that you dont trade bird rights without that option.

[RickB-Orlando]

Should of traded him while we had the chance to last year smh

what chance did we have though? everyone knew he was trash

Well, except for Hennigan apparently.

While I think (and thought at the time) the Biyombo signing was both out of left field and a huge waste of cap space, at least Biz works hard, contributes on defense a lot of the time, and is clearly a good voice in the lockerroom.

Hennigan really did us no favors with Mario - and because he hung onto him now we've got a guy with little trade value that will likely fade away, either next year or (if he's lucky) after one more contract contract spent bouncing around as a journeyman backup with marginal skills.

It's a shame because he looked like he had all sorts of potential to become an alpha scorer in the league - tough to tell what went wrong. Just another Euro player that can't adjust to the NBA? Maybe not a complete shock though because he has *never* really shown himself to be a dominant player in the international stage. I think this shows us when people talk about a players potential but they're showing zilch in Euro play...maybe there's a reason.

[fklt]

I may have gone "the appreciation thread" mode too soon, but this was definitely fun to watch. his first year highlights, when we were still excited about him.

Watch on YouTube

[fendilim]

Wow. I can’t see Hezonja lasting much longer on the team. Unless this is a motivator for him to step up and prove his worth?

I wonder who we could trade him for. Bulls would love to take a punt on someone like him. Knicks and Nets, too.

Maybe Sacto?

I do actually feel like a George Hill to Orlando deal could be brewing this season. Once Sac realise they’re out of the playoff picture (which will be soon), they’ll wanna just hand the reigns to Fox.

Mario won’t be enough, but could be part of a bigger package.

sac offered richardson and a 2nd rounder

Damn. Should have taken it

[bargnanimvp]

Should of traded him while we had the chance to last year smh

what chance did we have though? everyone knew he was trash

Well, except for Hennigan apparently.

While I think (and thought at the time) the Biyombo signing was both out of left field and a huge waste of cap space, at least Biz works hard, contributes on defense a lot of the time, and is clearly a good voice in the lockerroom.

Hennigan really did us no favors with Mario - and because he hung onto him now we've got a guy with little trade value that will likely fade away, either next year or (if he's lucky) after one more contract contract spent bouncing around as a journeyman backup with marginal skills.

It's a shame because he looked like he had all sorts of potential to become an alpha scorer in the league - tough to tell what went wrong. Just another Euro player that can't adjust to the NBA? Maybe not a complete shock though because he has *never* really shown himself to be a dominant player in the international stage. I think this shows us when people talk about a players potential but they're showing zilch in Euro play...maybe there's a reason.

huh? he had hype before the draft, he was taken right where everyone would take him. everyone thought he was trash a couple years later

[fendilim]

I don’t think you can blame the pick too much. I remember Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress hyping Mario in the weeks leading up to that draft saying he thought he was the most intriguing prospect after Porzingis and how he’d potentially look at him over Okafor (no one else was saying this at the time).

Hopefully we can use him in a trade this season and at least get something back because (it goes without saying) it’s not ideal that a rebuilding team has basically wasted a top 5 pick.

yeah only in hindsight can you trash management for taking him really, he went in the range most teams would have taken him in and was highly thought of, just a shame he didn't pan out

The weightlifting probably got him off rhythm.

You can see that he did lose some bounce after year 1. When he got bigger.

There were some plays in his rookie year when he would still do some chasedown blocks.