Portland Trail Blazers: Three players not likely to return next season
By Jerry Trotta
Mario Hezonja
The Trail Blazers inked Mario Hezonja, formerly of the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic, to a one-year minimum contract last summer. General manager Neil Olshey surely didn’t envision the Croatian playing a prominent role on a team fresh off an appearance in the Western Conference Finals, but it’s really impossible to deny that this signing hasn’t panned out.
Entering the 2019 offseason, Hezonja registered career averages of 7.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 18.9 minutes per game across four seasons. It goes without saying that those stats leave a lot to be desired, but the 25-year-old’s production plummeted with Portland this year.
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Despite injuries to Nurkic, Collins, and Hood, Hezonja wasn’t relied upon by head coach Terry Stotts. In 2019, the 6-8, 201-pound forward averaged 4.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in just 16.3 minutes per contest. He contributed shooting splits of .429/.328/.824.
With the Trail Blazers expected to return to full strength come next season, you can expect the franchise and Hezonja, an impending unrestricted free agent, to mutually part ways at the conclusion of this campaign — whenever that is — and let him test the open market.