The Orlando Magic were hopeful coming into this season that their young players would be able to improve and they could compete for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. That is still a possibility but they have not played well of late and it has gotten to the point where head coach Scott Skiles has vowed to change up his rotation. One player who would seem to be in line for some more minutes would be rookie Mario Hezonja but Skiles has not liked the way he has gone about preparing, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
The Magic are deep on the wings and because of that Hezonja is somewhat buried on the depth chart despite having appeared in every single game this season. His minutes have been sporadic (14.5 per game) and when he has been on the floor he hasn't played all that well and Skiles thinks it has to do with preparation.
"Oftentimes, he's just not ready. He's not aware and he's not ready. He knows it. We're trying to get his habits straight," said Skiles.
Hezonja did not disagree with Skiles' assessment of him but by all accounts he has been a willing learner in practice. Hezonja is still just 20 years old so he has plenty of time to be able to learn the NBA game and he has a ton of talent which is why the Magic drafted him fifth overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. Hezonja was extremely impressive in summer league and had people thinking that he could be a sleeper rookie of the year candidate but he hasn't adjusted that quickly to the NBA game.
Orlando has lost three of their last four games to drop their record to 6-8 overall and Skiles has promised changes. Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton have both been benched a couple of times recently so it is possible that Hezonja could be in line for more of an opportunity in the near future but based on Skiles' recent comments it doesn't seem all that likely. Hezonja has the worst PER (5.0) of any of the Magic's regular rotation players and likely still has a lot to learn before Skiles puts more on his plate.
