New York Knicks: How will Mario Hezonja fit in next year?

Last season

2017-18 was Mario Hezonja’s best season. He finished the campaign averaging 9.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. He also shot 44.2 percent on his field goals and logged a 13.7 Player Efficiency Rating. All of the aforementioned numbers were career highs.

It was a slow build, as Hezonja started the year out of the rotation. He averaged a paltry 2.2 points per game in 11 games during the month of November. However, with injuries to forwards Jonathan Issac, Terrence Ross and Aaron Gordon, Hezonja was able to pick up more minutes.

Starting with a Dec. 8 matchup against the Denver Nuggets, Hezonja wouldn’t miss another game for the rest of the year. Over that span, he played 56 games and started 30 of them, averaging 26.3 minutes per game. He also came away averaging 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Unfortunately, Hezonja’s increased presence could not stem the tide of Orlando’s losing ways. The Magic went 8-22 in games he started and were 14-42 from Dec. 8 through the remainder of the season.