The Cleveland Cavs are back in training camp, and one of the first talking points around the group has been Mario Hezonja’s body - not his shot, not his role, but the sheer size of the man now.
Jarrett Allen was the one who put it best when he reacted to Hezonja’s physical change.
“He weighs more than me,” Allen joked, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com on X, formerly Twitter.
That line tells you plenty about how striking Hezonja’s transformation has been. Since entering the NBA, and especially during his years overseas, he has added 70 pounds. Cleveland brought him in this summer after he spent time playing abroad following his early NBA run with multiple teams in the 2010s.
Hezonja is expected to give the Cavs a steady veteran option off the bench, and he also made clear how much this return to the league means to him.
“It was always a little bit bothering me, you know, the coming to NBA unaccomplished, you know, very young,” Hezonja said. “So, definitely blessed and thankful to have clubs that wanted me, that supported me through my goals and all my achievements,” he said, per TalkBasket.net.
Hezonja isn’t the only addition Cleveland made to address the wing. The Cavs also landed Peyton Watson in a sign-and-trade with the Denver Nuggets late in the summer, another move aimed at giving the team more answers at small forward.
Between Watson and Hezonja, Cleveland is banking on added versatility and shotmaking on the wing as it tries to build on last season’s trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Cavs will open the new season on October 22 on the road vs LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers.
In Other News...
Former Cavs Champion J.R. Smith Is Suddenly Facing Serious Trouble
J.R. Smith, one of the more recognizable names from Clevelands 2016 title run, is back in the news for all the wrong reasons. The former Cavaliers guard was arrested in Hunt County, Texas, on a charge of assault causing bodily injury involving alleged family violence, a jarring development for a player who had recently turned the page into a new chapter after basketball.
Smith was booked into the Hunt County Detention Center, and no bond was listed at the time. The two-time NBA champion had recently completed his college golf career at North Carolina A&T, which made this turn even more startling for fans who remember him as part of a championship core and not as a headline like this one. [Read more 🡒]
James Harden Just Made Clevelands Peyton Watson Move Look Crucial
Peyton Watsons arrival in Cleveland has already become one of the more interesting subplots of the Cavaliers offseason. The 22-year-old forward came over from Denver in the five-team sign-and-trade on Aug. 19, and his profile only got a bigger boost a day later when James Harden signed on with the Cavaliers, a move that added more weight to the organizations push to reshape the roster.
Watson was introduced by the Cavaliers on Sept. 17 after coming off a career-best season, and the expectation now is that he will have a larger role in Cleveland than he did with the Nuggets. Hardens presence matters here, not just because of the star power, but because he helped recruit Watson in the first place, making the move feel like part of a bigger plan rather than a one-off transaction. [Read more 🡒]
Cavs Veterans Are Already Buying Into One Rookies Upside
Meleek Thomas has barely gotten his Cavaliers career started, but he already sounds like the kind of rookie veterans notice. During media day, Cleveland players including Donovan Mitchell and Nae'Qwan Tomlin praised Thomas for the way he works, the confidence he brings as a scorer and the kind of defensive grit that tends to earn quick trust in a locker room. His Summer League showing and early practice work only added to the sense that the 19-year-old is already making a real impression.
The Cavs are not expecting Thomas to carry much of a load right away, and that is part of what makes the early buzz interesting. For a team trying to stay competitive while also developing young talent, his eagerness to learn and improve fits neatly into the long view. The real question now is how quickly that promise turns into something more tangible once the games start to matter. [Read more 🡒]