The Barça still looking for a forward in the market to fill out his next squad but Mario hezonja he will not be the chosen one. According to the Vecerjni.hr website, the Croatian is very close to signing with the UNICS Kazan Russian after failing to reach a renewal agreement with the Panathinaikos and see how the Barça club, possessor of its rights in Europe, has no interest in him wearing his shirt again.
The 26-year-old, 2.03-year-old Croatian forward wanted to renew for him Panathinaikos, which he arrived from the NBA last February and of which he has declared himself a fan since he was a child. The Barça, holder of his rights in Europe since he allowed him to make the jump to the NBA in 2015, accepted the landing of Hezonja in the ‘green’ until the end of the season with the commitment that, if later they chose to renew him, he would receive 400,000 euros for his freedom. Panathinaikos and the Croatian have been negotiating these weeks but the player has finally rejected the two million euros net for two years that they offered him, an amount of which Hezonja had to pay for his freedom from Barça.
Some thought that the rupture between Hezonja and Panathinaikos could open the options of return of the Croatian to Palau but the Barça has never been very by the work. On the one hand, what the forward is asking for is outside the current economic possibilities of Barça, in full budget adjustment because of the strong blow that the coronavirus pandemic has caused the club. What’s more, It is not a player who responds to the desired profile, a three fighter, able to play in the low post and with good defensive skills. Once the signing of Nicolas Laprovittola at point guard, a player who is already completely out of the Jasikevicius profile, a weak second reinforcement at the back would be too much. It must be borne in mind that the risk with the Argentine is less because surely the Lithuanian coach, as it already happened with Leandro bolmaro, will give a notable role in the team management to the young
Rokas Jokubaitis
, whose signing was officially announced yesterday.
Barça prefers to enter the 400,000 euros of their rights and wait a bit more (NBA discards will not take long) to find the good, nice and cheap forward to which he aspires.
Once the negotiations with Panathinaikos have been broken and in view of Barça’s null interest, Hezonja has decided to turn his eyes towards him UNICS Kazan, with whose new coach, his compatriot Velimir Perasovic, met recently while on vacation in Dubrovnik. UNICS offers him a good contract and the possibility to lead his new project, which seems to have seduced Hezonja.