Situation

I guess I’ll start with coaching and playing time, two reasons Mario has prematurely and incorrectly been labeled a bust. Hezonja has not gotten consistent minutes on a basketball team since his 2012–13 season, where he played on FC Barcelona’s second team in the Spanish LEB Gold league. Mario averaged 14.5 points, 3.4 rebounds., 1.4 assists. and 1.9 steals in 24.5 minutes per game as a 17 year old. After a productive season from the young Croatian, he got sent up to FC Barcelona’s first team. However, Mario didn’t reap the benefits of getting called up. He rarely played, receiving 12.8 minutes per game in the 3 years leading up to draft. These minutes are not reflective of Hezonja’s talent at all. In fact, minutes are not reflective of any young NBA prospect playing in Europe. Almost completely regardless of skill, young basketball players in Europe do not crack rotations, especially on the top teams. In contrast to the increasingly one-and-done heavy NCAA, elders take priority in the European game. This is especially true of players who are on track to get drafted in America, as Mario was. Hezonja’s 12.8 minutes per game on the ACB’s 3rd best team are comparable to another young NBA player from the same league, Kristaps Porzingis, who averaged 17.8 minutes on 15th best team. Veterans, for better or for worse (for worse), have a monopoly on playing time. The average age of FC Barcelona Basketball is 30 years old. The average age of an NBA team? 26. (Maybe I’m expecting too much out of Europe. After all, Mario played for “FC Barcelona Basketball”. AKA “Football Club Barcelona Basketball.” Football Club. Basketball.)

Mario stares at angry turtle that found its way onto the court

Things didn’t get much better when he came to the States. Mario was drafted to the Orlando Magic, where he was set to play under new head coach Scott Skiles. Skiles was a notorious hot-head known for neglecting youngsters, and Hezonja’s situation was no different. Hezonja played a measly 17.9 minutes per game on a team that had no clear direction and won only 35 games. Skiles consistently played veterans over Hezonja (See: CJ Watson). He made pushes for questionable trades such as the one that sent Tobias Harris to Detroit for Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon “People used to think I was good” Jennings. Orlando’s win-now attitude only worsened things for Hezonja, never getting the freedom to play through his mistakes as the rest of Orlando’s youth movement previously had.

Quote from Skiles. Remember Devin Booker? I remember Devin Booker.

Ecstatic would be a word to describe Orlando’s fanbase when Skiles resigned in the Summer of 2016 and was almost immediately replaced by widely respected head coach Frank Vogel. Sadly, however, this new Magic team tried to zig when the rest of the league zagged (more on this later) and, while Vogel gave Mario more freedom while on the court, he also played him even fewer minute than Skiles had (14.8 minutes per game) in 14 less games. Not a single game missed was due to injury.

DNP-CD

But it isn’t just the minutes. It is what Mario is allowed to do in them. And it isn’t much.

Now in HD!

Under Scott Skiles, Mario would, as previously mentioned, get quickly pulled after making even the most minute mistakes. For any player, a short lease is damaging to their confidence, even one as self-confident as Hezonja. When in, the “Croatian Kobe” was relegated to standing in the corner in order to space the floor (Scott Skiles does not know how to run an NBA offense). Hezonja would be scared to shoot, for the possibility of getting yanked, and so when he touched the ball he would often forgo easy looks for passes that didn’t lead to points. You’d be hard pressed to find 5 plays ran through Hezonja all season. Not only was this detrimental to Hezonja’s growth as an all-around player, it also hindered the success of the team, as A: having Mario moving around the floor, making cuts, and setting screens would improve the overall offense of the team, and B: Mario, while a semi-successful sharpshooter, actually shoots his worst from the two corners (more on this later).

Under Vogel, Mario got a slightly longer leash, but it became apparent that Vogel was not sure how to use him as a ballplayer. Throughout the season, Hezonja spent time at SG, SF, and PF, never spending enough time at one position to be able to get into rhythm. It did teach Mario more about playing multiple positions in an increasingly positionless league, but it might have been nice to just stick to 2 positions for the young gunner. Mario rarely complained, claiming he was just happy to be there, but he did admit there was some frustration.

But Hezonja’s coaches and minutes have not the only problems with his situation. The Magic ran an inefficient offense incompatible with the modern game. This season, they would often run three big guys out on the court, none of whom could reliably shoot from outside the arc. The team as a whole was last in the league in 3 point percentage. This left Mario very little room to work on the court. In addition, the other Orlando Magic ballplayers would refuse to pass him the ball when he was wide open, leaving Mario to stand around on offense, similar to his first year in the league. Here is a list of NBA players with a usage rates comparable to Hezonja.

No disrespect intended to Kelly “The Clinic” Olynyk

Usage rate is a stat that calculates what percent of plays on offense end with that player (Either through a shot, trip to the free throw line, or turnover). Hezonja ended up with the likes of Ben Bentil, John Jenkins, and Luis Scola. In fact, this spot on the list might have even been a bit generous, when you consider that oftentimes the minutes Hezonja would get would be in garbage time when he was relied on as the primary shotmaker. So when placed in with regular rotation players, I’d expect this number to be around 10%.