He was the #5 pick of the 2015 draft and is 24 years old. The Blazers don't have a lot of proven talent at the SF/PF positions so, like you said, you never know.
@BonesJones Hezonja averaged 25 PPG, 10.3 RPG, and 7 APG when he played PG the last 3 games. Small sample size sure but does that give you any hope that for the minimum he might still have some breakout potential.
And were going to rely on that 3-game sample size (against G-League level teams) while trying to contend? Ouch.
Ha ha, I never said we would rely on Hezonja. It does give me hope that he could still possibly be a useful player though.
Hezonja could always pass. Most Europeans can pass the rock. They’re specifically coached to do it. It’s not a coincidence. The bigger question would be ballhandling. I haven’t watched Hezonja enough recently to make an honest assessment on that front.
By contrast, it is a 3x larger sample size than the 1 game Simons has when he was turned loose...and it sounds like he is going to be given the back-up PG role. One of those games for Mario was against Houston who started Harden/Paul/Capela/Tucker/Gordon. The Knicks got blown out but that was his first triple/double game. Nice to know he at least has the ability to produce such numbers even against some which are lesser teams.
Stotts has done a pretty decent job of giving players some playing time early in the season to help evaluate what combinations work best together and what players step up so if a player shows the ability to compete they will likely have an opportunity at some floor time.
I heard him numerous times over the years on courtside comment that he likes to experiment with different combinations the first have of the year and then decide what works best. Its not all the different for what other coaches do as actually thats what they are also paid told besides win.
