The Cleveland Cavs have had an interesting offseason, most recently bolstering their roster by trading for Peyton Watson. The Cavs are hoping to keep their place among the contenders in a revamped Eastern Conference heading into the upcoming season.
Another addition the Cavs made this offseason was signing NBA veteran Mario Hezonja, who had recently been playing overseas. Recently, Hezonja has been representing his native country of Italy at the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, and on Thursday, he put together a big performance.
“Another big game for Mario Hezonja as Croatia rolled over Latvia: 28/3/7,” reported Keith Smith of Spotrac on X, formerly Twitter.
The stat line included 8-of-13 shooting from the field, and comes just days after Hezonja hit a game-winner to lift Italy over Turkey in the event.
The Cavs are hoping that Hezonja can rekindle some of the magic from earlier in his career, during his days with the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, and other squads.
Hezonja has made some huge highlight plays during his NBA career, including blocking LeBron James on an attempted game-winner, as well as dunking on and stepping over Giannis Antetokounmpo, among others.
The wing is expected to provide some spot minutes for the Cavs off the bench this year, with Cleveland’s reserve unit having been bolstered following its ugly performance against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals this past year.
It remains to be seen if the Cavs’ additions will be enough for the team to keep pace in an Eastern Conference landscape that has been heavily altered this summer.
Cleveland will kick off its regular season on October 22 against LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers.