LAS VEGAS — We were all jerks in our youth.
That was the message from new Knicks coach David Fizdale in predicting newly signed forward Mario Hezonja has turned over a new leaf as the 23-year-old Croatian put forth a strong finish to last season.
Hezonja, the fifth pick in the 2015 draft, officially signed with the Knicks on Friday for one year and $6.5 million, and Fizdale is officially allowed to talk about him now that the NBA moratorium is over.
Hezonja’s career was so below grade, the Magic didn’t pick up his fourth-year option — which is rare for a top-five pick. The decision, though, was made in October, before Hezonja improved from late December on.
“That was exciting to see that,” Fizdale said of Hezonja’s surge. “You start to finally see what people were talking about with him. It just shows you with these young guys, you just don’t know. It’s so easy for us to write a kid off when he’s had a couple of years, but any one of you and me, when we’re 18-21, were jerks. A lot of times what we do is we discard these players. This kid still has a lot of talent to show and a lot of things, and so you saw it at the end of the year. Although he had struggled, it finally started to pick up and he started to figure out who he was going to be in this league.”
The Knicks will get a season to figure out if that was a fluke. The combo forward averaged 9.6 points in 22 minutes, shooting 44 percent from the field. They still could be hard-pressed to re-sign him as a free agent if they are able to ink a big-name next offseason.
Knicks general manager Scott Perry knows all the good and bad about Hezonja as he was part of the decision-making process to draft him in Orlando. In a statement, Perry called him “extremely talented, multi-dimensional, young, athletic and driven.”
Perry left out draft-bust candidate.
“It’s tough — how many coaches has the kid had down there?” Fizdale said. “He’s had a ton of coaches. We see a talent there, a high-draft-pick talent. He fits how I want to play with his athleticism and his ability to shoot and make plays off the dribble. We still think he has a lot of room to grow and develop. We feel like he’s definitely worth bringing him in and seeing what we can turn him into.”
If not, it was a one-year experiment. Hezonja probably will start at power forward until fellow European Kristaps Porzingis returns in midseason. Fizdale said when he was in Miami, the Heat did a lot of research on Hezonja in case he fell to 10.
“We really got into a lot of film with him during his draft,” Fizdale said. “I just told him I want to give you a clean slate, no judgment. I’m not going to look back at your past for any negatives. I want to start from scratch and show you how I want to develop you and play you. That’s all he was asking for was a fresh start and being in a place where he was valued and people cared about him. I think it’s going to be a good relationship.”
Indeed, part of the reason Perry said he feels comfortable reuniting with one of his largest draft disappointments is Fizdale’s reputation as a master development coach. In Orlando, sources said attitude was an issue as Hezonja lost interest when playing time was scarce.
“He’s got the right skill set for today’s NBA,” Fizdale said. “He plays with a super-high motor, he’s a high flier, he shoots the 3-ball well, he handles the ball in transition, he’s really competitive defensively, and he’s 6-8. I can play him a lot of different ways and a lot of different spots.”
The Knicks have just one player over 30, and they still are considering adding another body to their 16-man group, preferably a veteran rebounding power forward with high character. They can use their $3.4 million biannual exception or the veteran’s minimum.
“We talked about it,” Fizdale said. “It’s a possibility. There’s still time to do some things to plug in some quality leadership, veteran leadership. At the same time, you got to be right with that. You can’t bring in a guy who is looking for more than we can give because that could wind up tearing the locker room apart.
“We got to be real specific who we surround these kids with, making sure they’re quality people, high character. Guys who come in every day and do their job. Guys who aren’t trying to eat the young and try to put people around them that will help develop these guys.”