The Orlando Magic are trying to burden someone else with the decision of whether to exercise Mario Hezonja’s team option for next season.
According to Basketball Insiders’ Michael Scotto, the team is testing his trade market:
Sources: Orlando has explored the trade market on Mario Hezonja. The Magic must decide on his fourth-year $5.2 million team option by today.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) October 31, 2017
The Magic are beyond unlikely to strike a deal before the decision’s deadline, which means they’re almost certainly going to pick up Hezonja’s team option. He isn’t a consistent part of their rotation, and they’re playing fire basketball without him right now, but you don’t just give up on 22-year-old wings who were selected fifth overall in 2015. You capitalize on their departure any way you can. Letting him enter unrestricted free agency this summer would be a mistake, even if they don’t believe there would be an expensive market for him.
Some team, somewhere, has to be willing to fork over something for him. At 6’8″, Hezonja can play shooting guard through power forward and might wield a more reliable jumper within a system that creates more space. Orlando, of course, is shooting the hell out of the ball to start this season, but it’s also not giving Hezonja a fair shake at minutes. A trade would serve both parties well.
The Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves are all squads who should be speaking with the Magic to see how far their asking price has dropped.
