James Harden already sounds sold on what Mario Hezonja can bring to Cleveland, and that matters for a Cavaliers team looking for another layer when things bog down.
“He brings something to our team that we didn’t have,” Harden said, according to comments reported by Marca and relayed by Zach Weiss of Cavs On SI. Harden pointed to Hezonja’s strength, along with his ability to shoot, pass and attack the basket.
Hezonja is back in the NBA after six seasons overseas, and the Cavs do not need him to be a primary engine. What they want is a bigger, more versatile option who can give Harden and Donovan Mitchell another path when possessions get messy. The early word out of Cleveland has been positive, and Harden’s praise only adds to that.
The Clippers, meanwhile, may have an opening for Gradey Dick because of Max Strus’ foot injury. Strus suffered a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his right foot during Sunday’s preseason opener and will be reevaluated in four weeks. That injury lands at an awkward time, especially with Brandon Ingram, Bradley Beal and Jordan Miller also expected to miss time.
Cem Yolbulan of Clippers On SI has pointed to Dick as a possible beneficiary. The former lottery pick came over from Toronto in the Kawhi Leonard trade and is in the final season of his rookie deal.
His shot is supposed to be the calling card, but he went just 1-of-5 from the field in his Clippers preseason debut. One exhibition is hardly enough to make a verdict, though, and Los Angeles’ thinning perimeter rotation should give him more chances to show something.
Brooklyn’s situation is different, but just as unsettled. The Nets have young guards who need development, veterans who expect minutes and a starting lineup that has yet to take the floor together. Jordi Fernandez has some decisions to make.
Ivan White of Nets On SI suggested Fernandez should test different first-fives, including the possibility of bringing Michael Porter Jr. or Julius Randle off the bench in certain matchups. That was White’s idea, not a reported plan from Brooklyn.
Still, preseason is exactly the right time for that kind of experimentation. Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. need the ball and the reps.
Porter and Randle bring established scoring. Fernandez’s challenge is finding combinations that can do work on both ends, no matter who starts or who comes in first.
In Other News...
Clippers Just Lost More Control In The Kawhi Leonard Saga
Kawhi Leonards return to Toronto is finally official, closing another chapter in a saga that has stretched far beyond the usual trade paperwork. The deal had been held up while the NBA investigated the Clippers salary cap practices, and only after that delay did the Raptors complete the acquisition and move forward with Leonard as the centerpiece of their latest run.
Leonard has already started talking like a player settling back in rather than one still looking back, saying his focus is on learning the team and helping as a veteran presence. For the Clippers, though, the bigger issue is the shrinking amount of control they have left in a story that once seemed centered on them and now feels increasingly out of their hands. [Read more 🡒]
Gradey Dick Faces A Huge Clippers Opportunity He Can't Waste
Gradey Dick arrives in Los Angeles with something he did not have much of in Toronto: a clean slate and a real opening to play. The Clippers brought him in as part of the Kawhi Leonard trade, and with injuries thinning the early-season rotation, he should get the kind of minutes that can quickly change how the organization views him. After a modest run with the Raptors, this is the sort of chance young players talk about when they say they just need an opportunity.
For the Clippers, the evaluation is simple and the timeline is not. Dicks early work in this new environment could shape whether he sticks as part of their long-term plans or becomes a name they shop before the deadline. There is room for him right now, and there is pressure attached to it, because teams rarely wait long when a player is trying to prove himself on a short-term deal. [Read more 🡒]