1. Coming off a career season
Players tend to perform better in contract years, hoping to land a lucrative deal once they hit free agency. Usually, that performance results in a multi-year deal. While Hezonja didn’t land a multi-year deal, he is coming off a career season.
Hezonja put up career-highs across the board. His 9.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.4 blocks per game all either set a new career-high or tied a previous high. He also shot a career-high 44.2 percent from the field.
Hezonja’s advanced stats also present a good increase. He put up a career high in offensive and defensive rating. Where he took the biggest jump was on defense. For the first time in his career, Hezonja registered a positive defensive box plus/minus, according to Basketball-Reference. He also had a positive offensive and defensive win share in the same season for the first time in his career.
While the numbers aren’t mind blowing, he is definitely taking steps in the right direction. He also closed the season well, averaging 13.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in April.
Hezonja played more power forward in 2017-18 than he had previously in his career. That should be an indication of where New York will play him this upcoming season.
If he stays the course playing power forward and continues taking steps forward, he could have a breakout season. Hezonja has a great chance to enter free agency off a career season for the second straight summer.