Free NBA Agency: Knicks tries another rehabilitation project with the addition of Mario Hezonja



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Mario Hezonja, the No. 5 pick in the 2015 draft, will travel to New York. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski the guardian agreed to a one-year contract worth $ 6.5 million with the Knicks. Hezonja showed his excitement about his new business via his Twitter account.

New York now has three highly regarded members of the 2015 draft clbad on its list. The team recruited franchise player Kristaps Porzingis No. 4 three years ago and, at the February trading deadline, he acquired Emmanuel Mudiay, who was seventh overall by the Denver Nuggets .

Prospects like this are generally not available at this stage of their careers. As was the case with Mudiay, the only reason Hezonja was an option for the Knicks was that he severely underperformed the NBA's expectations. Before Orlando Magic drafted it, he was hailed as a player who could possibly win a 3-point contest and a dunk contest. In three years, Hezonja shot 33.2 percent of the 3-point range and plunged 62 times in 219 games.

There is good news, however: After struggling to find his NBA identity in his first two seasons, Hezonja has shown a significant improvement in 2017-18. The Magic did not have a lot of structure to attack, but he took an average of 9.6 points in 22.1 minutes and found himself as a shooter and cutter. Although he's still not an above-average defender, New York should not expect that it's also a turnstile. There is no reason that he should not be able to build on the progress that he has made.

To be clear, this is not the kind of signature that will make Knicks fans throwing parties. This is however a good choice for a team like this. New York needed wings, needed a three-point shot and could afford to take over a young player upside down. If his player development team can help Hezonja manage his ball game, perhaps he could even become a basic player down the line. There is also a chance that it 's just a one – year experience, but if it did not have the tools to be a real contributor, it would not have been selected ##. ### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # 5 in total in the first place.

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