The Portland Trail Blazers will sign free-agent forward Mario Hezonja to a one-year, minimum contract that includes a player option for a second season, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Free agent F Mario Hezonjia has agreed to a one-year minimum deal — with a player option — with the Portland Trail Blazers, CAA agent Michael Tellem tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019
Hezonja averaged 8.8 points and 4.1 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game off the bench for the New York Knicks last season. He shot 41.2 percent overall and 27.6 percent from beyond the arc, the latter of which is an especially disappointing number considering he showed signs of growth as a long-range shooter in 2017-18.
Selected with the No. 5 overall pick of the 2015 draft by the Orlando Magic, Hezonja has failed to live up to the pre-draft promise that made many believe he had All-Star potential. He's a streaky shooter at best, and lacks burst and agility for his position despite plus leaping ability, a deficiency that rears its head on both sides of the ball. Hezonja is also a questionable decision-maker offensively and defensively, frequently drawing the ire of his various coaches throughout his career.
The Blazers went hard after Hezonja in free agency last summer, only to lose out to the Knicks by virtue of only being able to offer him a contract with a starting salary just north of $5 million. His deal with New York was $6.8 million, a reflection of the flashes of offensive punch he showed during the latter stages of his final season with the Magic.
It's currently unclear what role Hezonja is poised to play with Portland. If the team opts against bringing back Jake Layman, a restricted free agent, he'd have a much better chance of sneaking into the backend of Terry Stotts' rotation as a combo forward.
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