Mario Hezonja Makes Cavaliers Role Clear Alongside Donovan Mitchell, James Harden

Mario Hezonja scored 44 points over two games for Real Madrid at the EuroLeague Final Four in May, more than anyone else there, and he averaged 17.5 points in Spain's Liga ACB on his way to the league's MVP award. With the Cleveland Cavaliers, he joins a roster built around Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.

Hezonja told reporters at Monday's media day at Rocket Arena that Mitchell had walked him through isolation plays in the days before. Hezonja's response made clear how he views his role around Cleveland's stars.

"Absolutely. This is what I was looking for, because this is kind of now the luxury. They always speak about what is the reaction or everything. My first reaction when I saw two or three guys around me is like this, because I never had that luxury in my entire career to have — we're talking about the mega superstars in NBA," Hezonja said. "So I told — also Don, Don was the other day explaining to me, when you ISO and now they're — I said, 'Don, if I have to ISO, you might have to pay me from your own money, and I'm here to help you.'"

"You don't need me, you don't need to push me or anything. I will be here for you, for other teammates, for the entire team, that we go further where you guys haven't been yet," Hezonja continued. "So I'm super experienced, been through everything pretty much in my entire career. So I'm doing this for the second time now. So I'm here to fit into and to help everybody."

Mitchell signed a four-year, $273 million maximum extension in July after putting up 27.9 points a night last season. He averaged 26 points in 18 playoff games, according to The Associated Press. Harden, an 11-time All-Star, averaged 20.5 points and 7.7 assists after the trade and agreed to a new three-year deal on Aug. 20.

Cleveland went 52-30 and reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2018. The New York Knicks swept the Cavaliers there.

Hezonja watched Cleveland through the regular season and the playoffs before he arrived. What he saw from afar matched what he found after joining the organization.

"I had an opinion, and then it just confirmed when I arrived here. It's like a little family. I know it's very common to say this about the teams, and most of the times it's not true, but it's really from afar and how they are organized and how they function," Hezonja explained. "It's really like a tiny family that is all about winning and about small details that matter off the basketball and with the basketball."

"So watch them multiple times through the playoffs, through the regular season. They have a group that is playing together for a long time. That's super helpful, super useful, so I can just add help, more help to them," Hezonja added. "So that was very important for me, that there is established group of people that they know what type of basketball they want to play. There's an identity, a DNA, so I'm just a plus."

Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen have played together in Cleveland since September 2022, when the Cavaliers acquired Mitchell from the Utah Jazz. Harden arrived in February and Peyton Watson in August.

Dean Wade and Keon Ellis left in free agency, Max Strus went to the LA Clippers in the Watson deal, and Dennis Schröder was traded to the Charlotte Hornets for Tre Mann.

Hezonja's role is up to the staff and the players who have been in Cleveland longest, he said. After returning from more than five years in Europe, he is not arriving with a predetermined expectation for minutes or touches.

"Whatever it be, to coaching staff, to the side, that's about also how my teammates feel about me, what they want from me, especially the players that are here for so long. Basically, it's all going to fit sooner or later, but this is all up to them," Hezonja said. "I'm here. I'm open-minded. All my cards are on the table. There's nothing to hide. There is nothing, some weird expectation or anything."

"Like these people that are now around me, they have my entire NBA career in their own hands, and they know that," Hezonja continued. "I know that, so I'm super comfortable with them, and I'm just going to go with the flow with whatever they need."

Atkinson said Friday that the starting lineup is not set and that he could "probably list 13 right now that could be in that top 10," according to cleveland.com's Ethan Sands.

He also mentioned Tyrese Proctor and Nae'Qwan Tomlin when discussing depth. Proctor played more than 500 minutes last season, and Atkinson described a stretch of starter-type production from Tomlin, Hoops Wire reported.

Atkinson has spoken with excitement about Hezonja and said his years in Europe brought him back to the NBA at the right point in his career, according to Eurohoops.

Hezonja is among 21 players on Cleveland's training camp roster. Tomlin's two-way deal was converted to a standard contract last season, and Hezonja's deal becomes fully guaranteed on Nov. 15 if he stays on the roster, according to Sports Illustrated's Cavaliers site.

Hezonja's session ended on his mindset. After the individual and team success he found in Europe, he views his return to the NBA more as an opportunity to give Cleveland something than to validate himself.

"I don't need to prove anything. I just need to give. This is my mentality. I think everybody knows what it is. I'm not even coming here with my mentality of who I am back in Europe and what I mean to that continent, but something new," Hezonja said. "And I feel like I don't need anything to prove."

"Obviously, the terminology is proving, yes. Every game is for proving yourself, and to proving everybody that you can do it, that you're the best, that you can do this better, that you can do that, that constantly is this," Hezonja continued. "But the mentality is giving, giving to this team, giving to this coach, giving to my teammates, just giving back what they invested in me."

Cleveland's training camp in Fuengirola, Spain, runs Wednesday through Oct. 5. The preseason includes three games, and the regular season starts Oct. 22.