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

[RickB-Orlando]

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

Sure, but Hennigan (seemingly) insisted on holding on to him instead of dealing him for *some* value last year.

[Bigmagicfan82]

We should try and get Spencer Dinwiddie from the Nets for him.

[shadrock]

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

To be honest though, this is typical of most front offices in the league. Some picks are hits, some are misses. AG seems to have been a hit, Mario seems to have been a miss. Overall, i think if we can walk away from both those drafts with at least one player at the level of AG, we have done pretty well. Look at Philly, they had better picks than us on average, and ended up with Okafor, Noel (via trade i know), and Fultz. Noel is gone, Okafor is almost gone, and Fultz looks very shaky. Lakers took Deangelo who has since been traded, Julius Randle who is not even close to the level of player AG is, Ingram who is still a huge question mark. So on, so forth.

[orlando1214]

Disappointing, but what else is new with Mario. I had such high hopes for him, and continued to believe he would improve every year, but it just hasn't happened. The most frustrating thing is that the kid has all the tools, but he just cant seem to put it together. Not picking up his option is the right way to go though. I still hope he can be of some use to us in a trade this year, but even if not, the money he would have made next year is needed. With Aaron and potentially Elf getting new deals, the more salary cap the better. I also really hope that Mario is now moved out of the rotation and his minutes given to Wesley and Mo.

[MagicStarwipe]

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.

And in Summer League when he was dunking in traffic, catching alleys and splashing 3's.

[KillMonger]

Well, you can't say he wasn't given enough time. Though you can make an argument for minutes and opportunities. A change of scenery might be what he needs.

Sent from my expensive phone using my hands

[yoyojw17]

watch the Golden State warriors/san antonio/oklahoma (w/ henny) get a hold of him and he turns into a player that most of this board will flip back to.... "MAAAAAAN I KNEW HE WAS GOING TO BE SOMETHING SPECIAL.... I HATE WHELTHAM!" lol

[Magic_Johnny12]

Want so he's an unrestricted free agent this summer and we still carry his bird rights?

[FFBlitzace]

I understand that his 4th year salary as a #5 pick isn't a negligible number, but it's always been my belief that teams owe it to themselves to try getting something out of their lottery picks. If they still suck after year 4, then fine, don't give them the qualifying offer and let them go. I know Mario was Rob's pick, and not Weltman's, but this franchise still used a #5 pick on him. The quickest and easiest way to make sure you get nothing from that pick is to decline their option and let them go.

[cedric76]

Bye bye white mamba

Fran wasn't a bust, just a guy who didn't dream of nba and preferred quality of life over nba business

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Um what? Quality of life my ass. Fran didn't have the nut sack to play in the NBA. Once I learned his girlfriend told him he couldn't come play with his friends I knew he was in trouble. "Quality of life" got to be kidding me. Fran is easily the biggest draft bust in Magic history.


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Clueless

[MagicStarwipe]

Watch on YouTube

[the_hobo]

Not a shocker. He is pretty bad. We're just cleaning up the mess Henny left us.

[King Close]

Sure, but Hennigan (seemingly) insisted on holding on to him instead of dealing him for *some* value last year.

Sure, you could have done that, and gotten a 2nd round pick; or you could hold on to him and hope that he works on his game in the off-season tremendously and shows hope with continuity in the coaching staff.

Hindsight's 20/20, folks.

[KillMonger]

Not a shocker. He is pretty bad. We're just cleaning up the mess Henny left us.

Meh.....at the time the pick made sense, we just missed out on porzingod

Sent from my expensive phone using my hands

[magicman112]

Watch on YouTube

The Mario we should have now. He's so much more confident there.

[Xatticus]

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

It just means that he becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. The Magic could bring him back next year, but they couldn't pay him more than the option they turned down.

Given the other associated reports, it seems obvious that both sides are ready for a divorce, but Mario still has every reason to keep working hard.

[Trillen]

Watch on YouTube

It's crazy how much potential he appears to have in that video. Makes me really wish he developed in that route.

[Skin]

Never was a fan and knew he was going to be a bust. Unfortunate cause that was a big man heavy draft and we ended up paying Biyombo $17M per year to cover that void. Double whammy.

[Furinkazan]

Stupid move.
None of you sounded alarm when previous tard gm was handing out 7-17 mil contracts left and right (in fact as I remember most of You loved it)and now it seems 5 mil for one more year was a big nono.
He plays a bit better this year and still could have had some value down the road but now he basicly becomes useless expiring contract and his value just went down even more.There no point to play him at this point may as well waive him.
and btw Iwundu will end up same as Marbles/Dequan Jones/Doron Lambs and now Mario's of the NBA.

[ChosenSavior]

Shame that it had to come to this. When we drafted him, I thought we would have our starting SF in the fold and was excited by the upside he was showing in his rookie year. It all went to crap after that year. I still think he has some talent but it is between the ears where he is lacking badly. He is mentally weak and plays with virtually no confidence which I thought was going to be his main strength because he came with extreme confidence and swagger initially. Magic had a deadline on his option and made their decision. Isaac being the gem that he is and Simms City arriving here made Mario expendable. Hopefully we get a tangible asset for him at this point.