1:14pm: The Grizzlies have officially waived Hezonja, the team confirmed in a press release. Additionally, Memphis announced that it has signed free agent guard Ahmad Caver to fill the newly-opened roster spot.
Terms of Caver’s deal weren’t disclosed, but it’s likely an Exhibit 10 contract designed to get him a $50K bonus if he plays for the Memphis Hustle in the G League again this season, as he did last year.
12:50pm: The Grizzlies are waiving veteran forward Mario Hezonja, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Hezonja, 25, averaged 4.8 PPG and 3.5 RPG on .422/.308/.814 shooting in 53 games (16.4 MPG) for Portland last season. After he exercised his minimum-salary player option for 2020/21, he was sent to Memphis in a three-team trade that saw the Trail Blazers acquire Enes Kanter.
The Grizzlies were carrying 17 players with guaranteed contracts into training camp, leaving Hezonja and Marko Guduric as the likely odd men out for the regular season. Neither player was in camp with the club.
Hezonja hasn’t developed into a reliable and productive rotation player since being selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2015 draft, but being cut by the Grizzlies doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t play in the NBA at all this season. According to Charania, multiple teams are expected to express interest in the Croatian once he clears waivers and training camp ends.
There bunch of teams lacking depth at Wing
Should def find a home quick
Very few teams are looking to add players right now.
yea tats true theres still waiters and napier and diallo still on da market some teams who lack swingmen and wings, all they do is dive into the undrafted market and pickup some young benchwarmers who will eventually get dumped soon during training camp. its a waste of time tbh.
Booker, Rozier, Turner and Harrell were all taken after Hezonja. Wow!
So were Oubre, Powell, and a few other decent players. With the exception of Towns, Russell, and KP, most of the lottery picks in 2015 have been busts.
He was good in Europe but the nba was too fast for him still young might turn out to be a decent role player of the bench . Still remember his block against Lebron that was sweet
Super Mario had a triple double towards the end of his one Knicks’ season.
coming out seemed like this guy could be ginobli-esque with some seasoning – too bad
Super Mario …. hasn’t gotten his shot down. If you draft someone you have An obligation to develop. Make the the best of it. Especially a #1 pick. He’s good enough to become a rotation player. He can always play in Europe.
hezonji has gotten more inconsistent as he starts to switch teams. he could be a reliable bench player but not a starter