Although the 31-year-old forward has a contract with “Real” valid until 2029, he could leave the Madrid team for a buyout until July 20.
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M. Hezonja informed “Real” management of his intentions to leave before this deadline, but this does not yet mean that the Croatian will play in the NBA next season.
As reported by “Marca”, M. Hezonja informed the club of his intention to pay a one million US dollar buyout and leave, but he neither presented any club offer nor paid the aforementioned sum.
The rules of the Spanish basketball league ACB stipulate that the buyout must be paid before the deadline, which is the essential condition why M. Hezonja’s fate now depends on the Madrid club.
“Marca” states that M. Hezonja’s representatives have already contacted “Real” and are asking to release the player for a higher buyout than stipulated in the contract.
However, the right to decide now belongs to the Madrid organization, which can choose not to release the player or demand a significantly larger sum than the one million written in M. Hezonja’s contract.
“Marca” speculates that such a situation could lead to another unexpected scenario – since M. Hezonja’s contract does not include any buyout amount for moving to another Euroleague team, the Croatian might change his plans and choose to continue his career in another Old Continent team instead of the NBA.
The forward spent the last four seasons in Madrid, and in the previous Euroleague, he recorded 13.3 points and 4.1 rebounds.
M. Hezonja played most successfully in the semi-final against “Valencia”, scoring 25 points and collecting 33 efficiency points, and “Real” advanced to the final, where they lost to Piraeus “Olympiakos” after a dramatic battle.
Last season, he was named the most valuable player of the Spanish ACB league season.
M. Hezonja, who was selected with the fifth pick in the 2015 NBA draft, has already spent five seasons across the Atlantic, during which he played 330 games and averaged 6.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
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