By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Mario Hezonja has signed a one-year contract with an option for one more season to join UNICS Kazan, the team announced Saturday.
Hezonja, 26, recently turned down the final offer coming from Panathinaikos OPAP opting to move on from the Greek powerhouse. He elected to remain in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague moving his talents to Russia. The 2021-22 season will be his fifth in Europe’s premier club competition.
The Croatian swingman returned to the EuroLeague last season after completing a five-year NBA run. He averaged 14.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per match with the Greens.
His NBA experience brought him to 335 games, including five playoff tilts with the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2020 postseason bubble. He also became a member of the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks.
The latest big summer move for UNICS comes in following the additions of Tonye Jekiri, Lorenzo Brown, Evgeny Valiev, Will Thomas, Artem Komolov, Andrey Vorontsevich, and Vyacheslav Zaytsev. The team has also re-signed John Brown, Isaiah Canaan, Dmitrii Uzinskii, and Artem Klimenko after hiring Velimir Perasovic as the new head coach.