ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic don't believe they made a leap of faith by taking Croatia's Mario Hezonja with the fifth overall pick in Thursday's NBA draft.
They've had their eye on him for a while now.
"He's been on the radar the last four or five years," Magic general manager Rob Hennigan said. "We feel very confident in our evaluation of him."
Orlando entered Thursday night in need of both scoring and a defensive presence on the interior. Now the Magic are hoping the 6-foot-8, 220-pound Hezonja can eventually be a scoring answer for a team that finished 25th in the league in that department last season.