Portland signs Mario Hezonja to a minimum contract

[HoopsFanAZ]

There's no "i" in Hezonja.
Team player.
[It's been a long day.]

[d-train]

There's no "i" in Hezonja.
Team player.
[It's been a long day.]

Yeah, but there is in "Win"

[HoopsFanAZ]

Okay, that took me a moment longer than it should have.
You're correct.

[Effigy]

One year deal with a player option.

The first person to learn how to spell Hezonjia without looking it up gets a cookie.

You and Woj both lose.

Read on Twitter

Well that’s where I got the spelling from, lol. I just assumed Woj would have spelled it right.
But honestly, it proves my point.

[d-train]

Okay, that took me a moment longer than it should have.
You're correct.

Michael Jordan (or someone) said that as a comeback. I think it was Jordan.

[NWGunner]

One year deal with a player option.

The first person to learn how to spell Hezonjia without looking it up gets a cookie.

You and Woj both lose.

Read on Twitter

Well that’s where I got the spelling from, lol. I just assumed Woj would have spelled it right.
But honestly, it proves my point.

Thats OK I thought that he's Bosnian. He's Croatian. A friend of Nurks anyway.

[Wickzki]

Mario will flourish here. Big underrated pick up.

[croat25]

Mario isn't capable succeeding in two careers he have chosen. I vote for Fortnite.

[Dame Lizard]

I don't get the signing, as we need a big man, not another wing (we have Harkless, Hood, Bazemore, Layman and Little).

I personally think Harkless will be traded for a big man.

[Village Idiot]

Hezonja is a guy I liked before he got drafted. He looks like such a talented guy but has never gotten on track except for brief periods. This seems like a low risk opportunity for us to have yet another reclamation project. Thus far he's only been in really dysfunctional situations like Orlando before they turned it around and the Knicks last year. Mario's only 23 though and with some good coaching and our culture maybe he can become the player that everyone expected when he was a lotto pick.

[dunlop212]

He's Croatian. The two countries border each other, which in that part of the world means that the countries have probably recently been at each others' throats. Croatia is majority Christian, Bosnia majority islamic. Hopefully they'll be Balkan buddies, though.

[Masterfully]

Can someone tell me where these signings leave the Blazers with Kanter? Didn’t they need the taxpayer minimum to sign him? And did they already use that for Hood and Hezonja?

[Effigy]

Can someone tell me where these signings leave the Blazers with Kanter? Didn’t they need the taxpayer minimum to sign him? And did they already use that for Hood and Hezonja?

Hezonja got a minimum salary contract, so that doesn't affect anything. But yes, I think Hood got the taxpayer minimum and I don't know what we can offer Kanter besides a 7% or so raise from what we paid him last year. He and Seth are probably gone.

[magicman112]

Don't get this at all

It’s always a good idea to sign former Magic players. They seem to always Improve.

Magic fan here. I really hope Mario can do something for you guys. The kid has all the natural talent in the world just hasn't been able to put it together at the NBA level.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Seems like a "meh" move. I would think Harkless is going away with Hood, Bazemore, and this guy unless he's replacing Layman.

[Wizenheimer]

The kid has all the natural talent in the world just hasn't been able to put it together at the NBA level.

that's been the epitaph of about 17,000 NBA "careers"

I know nothing about Hezonja and can only go by his stats...which can be misleading. Nothing about his stats really justify the signing. I have a hunch this could be Stauskas 2.0

good signing?...that depends on what else happens I suppose. CJ-Simons-Trent-Mo-Hood-Bazemore-Little-Hezonja-(Layman); if you count Layman's QO, then Portland has 14 players and 9 are SG's or SF's. That's an imbalance. Now, Mo, Hezonja and possibly Layman can play some duty as PF's. That might be enough to backup Zach and Skal. But Zach may be playing a lot at C. And of course, Meyers-Zach-Skal at C is a thin-as-ice big man rotation really weak at rebounding

so then, the Blazers, IMO, really need some help and insurance at the big man positions. As in guys who can actually play big or at least play bigger than Mo and Hezonja

so who was available, possibly for a vet minimum, to fill that role:

Jabari Parker
Anthony Tolliver
Marcus Morris
Dragan Bender
Marquese Chriss
Frank Kaminsky
Dante Cunningham
Jonas Jerebko
Noah Vonleh
Christian Wood
Richaun Holmes
Cheick Diallo
Kenneth Faried
Markieff Morris

it's not a real impressive list and certainly, there's the possibility several...or most... will sign for more than the minimum. But if the choice was mine, I'd definitely take guys like Faried or Kaminsky or Jerebko or Dante or one of the Morris twins before Hezonja. Again, maybe Hezonja was the best Portland could get for a minimum, but it sure seems that sometimes, Olshey will get locked in on a prospect and not move off that guy even after a year or two of NBA play shows the guy isn't as good as the hype. Hezonja is more than a year older than TRob when TRob joined Portland, and has a 200 game experience advantage. Most times, when a player has like Hezonja has played nearly 300 games, started 65, and averaged nearly 20 minutes, his stats will go a long way toward showing the kind of player he is. It sure did with Stauskas. Hopefully, this will be a more successful reclamation project

now, looking at the roster, it sure looks like he'll only play in garbage time so it's not like he's the linchpin of the season. He'll be over 2 million in trade filler. And the Blazers still have at least one more minimum contract to give out so maybe that will add that needed big man insurance

[DaVoiceMaster]

I got a co-worker from Boston and he has said for the past year that the Blazers should get Morris. I dont know which one played for Boston, but he's still available. I dont know that he'd be a minimum contract and I would have a hard time rooting for a Morris brother, but maybe I could try? I definitely dont want the other Morris brother that grabbed Curry's shorts from the bench during the game. Thst guy has always pissed me off since hitting the game winning shot 2-3 years ago while standing on the out of bounds line. Grrr

[RoyalWun]

It would be nice if we went after some experienced/vet players but I get the idea of going after someone who would even be happy to have an NBA contract at the very least.

[King-]

He's Croatian. The two countries border each other, which in that part of the world means that the countries have probably recently been at each others' throats. Croatia is majority Christian, Bosnia majority islamic. Hopefully they'll be Balkan buddies, though.

He's friends with Nurkic, there are pictures of him with Nurk and Vucevic from the Magic when Mario was on the Magic.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is not an Islamic country, anybody from the geographic region of Bosnia is Bosnian and there are many, many Christians, and many Bosnian-Croats. They were already friends since before Nurkic even came to Portland.

[BlazersBroncos]

I have always had a soft spot for Mario. His physical profile, attitude and the supposed skillset he had coming out made me salivate. But he has simply not put anything together. Like many reclamation projects, he has been on dysfunctional teams up to this point. I really hope he can surprise us here next season. Its also always nice to have a 2M salary filler that could be played off as a young-guy-with-upside.