Mario Hezonja’s days with the Orlando Magic could be numbered.
The soon-to-be 22-year-old sophomore, who was the fifth overall pick in the 2015 draft, has basically fallen out of head coach Frank Vogel’s rotation. He has tallied nine DNPs and is barely averaging 10 minutes per appearance. He has played a total of eight minutes over Orlando’s last three games.
This lack of a role has Hezonja’s camp pushing for more playing time or a trade, according to Basketball Insiders’ Steve Kyler:
Hezonja is the interesting one because his camp is growing frustrated with his lack of a role and there is growing pressure to either find a role for him or find him a new home. The Magic like Hezonja a great deal, but they are trying to win games and Hezonja has regressed a great deal this year, so much so that the coaching staff won’t put him in games despite a need for scoring.
The Magic have been sniffing around the league doing early due diligence on trades, so it’s likely they trigger something sooner than later, but the question becomes: What do the Magic get in return?
This is a smart play by Hezonja and his camp. He has two more years left after this one on his rookie-scale deal before entering restricted free agency, so he doesn’t have any real leverage. But it’s best to nip his diminishing prominence in the bud now, when the Magic can still capitalize on his draft-day status, and his next team remains intrigued enough to play him like a top prospect.
Hezonja showed flashes of being an elite scorer as a rookie last season. His overall shooting percentages weren’t outstanding, but he converted nearly 66 percent of his field-goal attempts around the rim and maintained a near-average three-point clip (34.9 percent)—the latter of which is tough to do as a rookie who hails from overseas.
But Hezonja’s efficiency has plummeted right along with his playing time this season. He is shooting 31.6 percent overall and under 20 percent from three-point range—though he’s knocking down an acceptable 57.1 percent of his looks near the basket.
All of which succeeds in confounding his trade value. The Magic would be in iffy territory even if he was playing well, since it’s tough to nab an adequate return for someone who makes around $3.9 million. Their best bet is to pair him with one of their frontcourt assets, such as Nikola Vucevic, and hope they could parlay that package into a higher end wing.
Hezonja and Vucevic could get them Allen Crabbe from the Portland Trail Blazers, but that might be an overpay, even if Neil Olshey attaches a first-round pick. It’s also hard to find a home for Vucevic in general while receiving real value in return, since the trade market for traditional bigs isn’t especially fierce.
Still, the Magic can throw in another pot-sweetener aside from Vucevic, or they could just hope there’s a team out there willing to fork over a handful of cheap picks and prospects. (The Houston Rockets dangling K.J. McDaniels, a first-rounder and a second-rounder would be fun. Same goes for the Toronto Raptors offering Patrick Patterson, two firsts and a second.)
