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Orlando Magic: 2017-18 player grades for Mario Hezonja

By Luke Duffy

ORLANDO, FL - APRIL 12: Mario Hezonja #8 of the Orlando Magic talks to the media during a press conference on April 12, 2018 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - APRIL 12: Mario Hezonja #8 of the Orlando Magic talks to the media during a press conference on April 12, 2018 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Orlando Magic looked to have no need for Mario Hezonja to start the 2017-18 season, but now he’s looking like he could be added to their list of regrets.

It’s no secret that Mario Hezonja has underwhelmed since being selected by the Orlando Magic with the fifth pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. The “Super Mario” nickname he was given while playing in Europe failed to ever translate to any sustained success in the NBA.

Coming in to the 2017-18 season, it looked like the team would see more of the same from the forward: a continued slide down the rotation while playing spot minutes and looking shaky while doing so. Yet there was always the belief that there was a quality player in there somewhere.

At only 23 years old, had the Magic organization and their fans been too quick to judge Hezonja on what he could do for this team?

More troubling still, was it in fact the Magic’s continued coaching merry-go-round that was stunting the player’s growth and hampering his confidence as a result?

These were the key questions coming in to the season, and yet when all was said and done, Hezonja had put together easily the best season of his career to date.

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