Mario Hezonja looks to take step forward with latest chance

Opportunity has swung Mario Hezonja‘s way once again and the second-year forward is hoping to turn his hard work finally into playing time.

Opportunity for Mario Hezonja was oncoming at some point this season, especially as it seemed to be getting further and further away from the Orlando Magic as a whole. With Aaron Gordon missing the second half of Tuesday’s game against the Houston Rockets with what turned out to be a bone bruise in his right foot, Hezonja was called into action.

As Gordon continues to be day to day, opportunity continued to be present for the second-year player.

For the first time in weeks, Hezonja was playing meaningful minutes. For the first time all season, Hezonja was getting a start.

Here was his chance finally.

“Mario has been working hard,” coach Frank Vogel said before Thursday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. “When he is out of the rotation, you look for opportunities to give him opportunities like this naturally. When one guy goes down, that has not happened a lot Aaron and Jeff [Green] have been durable. That kid has worked his tail off to take advantage of this opportunity. We’re going to give him his shot.”

Hezonja did not look out of place in the loss to the Rockets — seven points on 3-for-6 shooting in a little more than 14.5 minutes of the second half — nor did he look out of place starting Thursday against the 76ers — three points on 1-for-4 shooting in roughly 18 minutes.

With a young player like Hezonja, mistakes were expected to some extent. In evaluating his performance in each game, Vogel acknowledged Hezonja seemed to make one good play for every bad play.

“It’s much like young players and much like Mario’s first year and a half it was a good play followed by a bad play,” Vogel said. “That’s what young players give you. He plays extremely hard. He just has to play and get experience. We have to figure out how much we can tolerate the growing pains with what we’re trying to do and trying to win games.”

His role offensively is still fairly small, largely relegated to spreading the floor from the corner and basic pin downs. The Magic are growing confidence for him slowly.

And, quite possibly, the Magic are keeping his role simple as he regains some rhythm. Hezonja was out of the rotation for about a week and has played relatively sparingly, no one wants him doing everything at once.

How long Hezonja remains in the rotation is still a mystery. Vogel said Gordon is feeling better and remains day to day. Gordon is limiting how much he is on his feet for now.

How long Hezonja remains out of the rotation, as Vogel hinted at, may also be determined by how much longer the Magic seriously push for the Playoffs. At a certain point this season, player development will become more important than selling out for wins. At that point, the calculus for stomaching young player mistakes will increase.

Hezonja has throughout the season stayed relatively patient. When discussing his season with the media, he is the first to recognize how much he still has to improve. And by all accounts, Hezonja has put in all the work. He just has not been able to produce.

Yet, Hezonja has continued to stick with it. And Vogel had high praise for how Hezonja handled his absence from the rotation. Vogel said Hezonja has handled his situation better than any young player he had pulled out of the rotation.

“His attitude was better than a 10,” Vogel said. “He worked even harder. He kept a smile on his face very single day. And he was just a team-first guy. He was confident in it. He wasn’t like ‘I’m not good enough’ or get down on himself. His work ethic doubled or tripled.”

Work ethic and putting in the time is one thing. Being able to produce and adjust on the court is another. And that is always a challenge for a young player. And the coaching staff has tried to figure out how best to use him.

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Hezonja’s career has suffered from a lack of stability — having to change coaches in his rookie year as such a project and meet new expectations has clearly been a struggle. Even his position seemed up in the air with the new coaching staff as they tried to figure out the best place to play him.

Vogel said when he and his staff came to Orlando, they expected Hezonja to be more of a shooting guard/wing player. But he struggled to defend and get open against smaller guards. The Magic have redefined how they used him and may be shifting him to play forward more. That puts him behind Aaron Gordon and Jeff Green in the rotation.

The adjustments and his overall disappointment in his role may lead Hezonja to reset himself this summer. After Tuesday’s game and the Magic pressing his return because of injury, he told John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com next year may very well be closer to his rookie year as he tries to prove himself all over again.

“Next year is probably going to be my rookie year. That’s how I look at it,” Hezonja said of getting to show the NBA his potential as a player. “I’m not going to back down or take a step back and, if I have to, I’m going to push my head through the wall for the opportunity.”

That process may very well start with the end of this year and whatever opportunity he gets in Orlando — or even a possible reset with the trade deadline coming up. Somewhere, Hezonja will get a chance. He will have his third year to prove he belongs in the NBA.

In this current opportunity, the task is to keep things simple and have him play his role. As he gains some rhythm again, the Magic may feel more comfortable turning him loose more and giving him more liberty to play freer.

His focus has to be on correcting mistakes if he wants to stay in the rotation for the long term. And the Magic coaches and teammates have to do their best to help him too.

“Teach, correct and encourage,” Vogel said before Thursday’s game. “You don’t want to beat a guy down who is a young player trying to find his way. You want to teach him, correct him and coach him. And encourage him.”

Whether this opportunity becomes the one for Hezonja is up to him.