2015 NBA Draft results: Mario Hezonja picked by Orlando Magic
A team once burned by a Spanish league player finally takes another one.
Croatian wing Mario Hezonja is the second European player off the board in the 2015 NBA Draft after being selected by the Orlando Magic with the No. 4 overall pick Thursday night. Primarily a shooting guard overseas, the 6'7 wing should also be able to fit at small forward in the NBA.
Hezonja, 20, has been considered one of the top young players overseas for years and recently has started tapping into his substantial potential. He finally cracked the rotation with one of Europe's top teams, Barcelona, during the 2014-15 season. He had his moments during the team's Euroleague run, which ended in the semifinals against Olympiacos, and was on the few bright spots in Barcelona's loss to Real Madrid in the Spanish league finals.
2015 NBA Draft
It's not always easy for young players to earn playing time on the best teams overseas, so it's a reflection of Hezonja's talent that he found some at his age. He has also had an impressive international career, earning MVP at the 2011 FIBA Europe U-16 tournament before appearing with the senior Croatian national team at the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
Zach Oliver of Orlando Pinstriped Post, SB Nation’s Magic blog, notes that Hezonja will give Orlando some serious offensive potential on the wing:
Hezonja joins a group of wings that include Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Tobias Harris, should the team re-sign him this summer. Hezonja has the ability to play both shooting guard and small forward, giving the Magic even more versatility with their roster ... While there's some questions about his commitment level on the defensive end, he's an extremely talented offensive player, and with time, could become a solid defender in the league.
Hezonja, who should pair with Oladipo as the bigger wing in the pairing, comes to the team a year after Gordon and Elfrid Payton were drafted in the first round. It's hard to say how much he'll be able to produce early on given the transition to NBA basketball and living in the United States, but his shooting ability should be a welcomed addition to a team that could use some more weapons on the perimeter.
Magic fans will hope this pick goes better than the franchise's last selection of a player from Spain's Liga ACB: That player, forward Fran Vasquez, was Orlando's No. 11 pick in 2005, but spurned the NBA to remain in Spain, where he now plays for Unicaja Málaga. One happy note for them: Vasquez departed Barcelona via trade in July 2012, and Hezonja arrived the exact same month, so they were never teammates on the floor.



















