$2.8 million for 1 year! Cavaliers officially announce signing of Hezonja, Spanish League MVP joins Harden and Mitchell

On July 31, Beijing time, Cavaliers basketball operations president Koby Altman officially announced today that the team has signed forward Mario Hezonja. According to previous reports, the two sides agreed to a one-year, $2.8 million contract.

Hezonja is 2.06 meters tall and weighs 110 kilograms. After the 2019-20 season, he returns to the NBA. Over the past six years, he has played in the Greek, Russian, and Spanish leagues. Last season (2025-26), he played for Real Madrid, appearing in 80 games (71 starts) across the EuroLeague, Spanish ACB, Copa del Rey, and Spanish Super Cup. He averaged 23.1 minutes per game, contributing 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, with an 84.8% free throw percentage.

During his four seasons with Real Madrid (2022-2026), Hezonja helped the team win the 2023 EuroLeague championship; was selected to the All-EuroLeague Second Team in 2024; and won the 2025-26 Spanish ACB MVP. He helped Real Madrid win consecutive ACB titles in 2024 and 2025, and previously won the ACB championship with Barcelona in 2012 and 2014. Additionally, in his sole season with Panathinaikos in 2021, he helped the team win the Greek League championship.

Over his overseas career (2012-2015, 2020-2026), Hezonja played for Barcelona (Spain), Panathinaikos (Greece), UNICS Kazan (Russia), and Real Madrid (Spain), totaling 533 games (261 starts) with averages of 21.6 minutes, 11.7 points, and 4.0 rebounds per game.

The 31-year-old player has five NBA seasons on his resume (2015-2020), playing for the Magic, Knicks, and Trail Blazers, totaling 330 regular season games (69 starts) with averages of 18.5 minutes, 6.9 points, and 3.1 rebounds per game. In 2020, he played 5 playoff games for the Trail Blazers.

Hezonja is from Croatia. He was selected by the Orlando Magic with the 5th overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft, making him one of the highest-drafted Croatian players in NBA history.