Croatian forward Mario Hezonja (2.03 m, 27 years old) will play for Real Madrid next season, according to sources familiar with the operation. Real Madrid plans to undertake a restructuring of the squad to rearm for the next campaign. In addition to focusing on the point guard position, with two possible additions, one of them being Sergio Rodríguez, reinforcements are expected at the shooting guard, small forward and power forward positions.
In several of these positions Hezonja fits, a very powerful forward with scoring ease, ball handling and a good three-point shot and who can play twofrom three and, lately with Velimir Perasovic at Unics Kazan, from four. The Croatian came from the Barça academy, which is why he is a training slot, and played in the first team with Xavi Pascual before leaving for the NBA, bound for Orlando. The Magic chose him very high in the 2015 NBA Draft, in fifth position and above other generational talents such as Devin Booker, but interest in him waned and he ended up from franchise to franchise. He also played for the Knicks and the Blazers.
The player, after his tour of the NBA, has been in the Greek Panathinaikos and in the aforementioned Unics Kazan, with whom he is now disputing the third and fourth place in the Unified League in Russia. Barça, despite the fact that it kept its rights to the continent for a few years, no longer owns them at this time. In the current Euroleague, until the expulsion of the Russian teams, Hezonja averaged 14.2 points (35% in triples), 6.1 rebounds and a PIR of 14.3 in 29:37.
In the VTB he has completed a very good playoff with an average of 19 points and currently disputes the stubborn position, after the defeat in the semifinals against Zenit, with Lokomotiv Kuban.