Report: Warriors Targeting Wing with Overseas MVP Award

After missing on LeBron James, the Golden State Warriors will be looking for a free agent who can improve their wing depth.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported on SportsCenter that they are targeting Mario Hezonja.

The 6'8" forward started his career with the Magic after being taken fifth overall in the 2015 draft. Hezonja spent five seasons in the NBA before going overseas.

For the 2025-26 season, he won the Liga ACB MVP award with Real Madrid. Liga ACB is the top league in Spain.

Warriors' Need for a Small Forward Is Evident

With Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody out indefinitely with knee injuries, the Warriors are thin at the small forward position.

Even though Gui Santos and Yaxel Lendeborg are more naturally stretch-4s in today's game, they will have to play most of their minutes at the 3 because the Dubs don't have better options.

That's why it makes sense that Hezonja is a target.

The 31-year-old can play both forward spots, but in five seasons in the NBA, he played the majority of his minutes at small forward, per Basketball Reference.

The other small forward the Warriors have been linked to is DeMar DeRozan. Charania didn't mention the Warriors as a serious contender for him. All he said was that the Heat will be targeting him.

Charania added that the Cavs are going after Hezonja as well. It's not clear how big Hezonja's market is, but if he's looking for an immediate opportunity, the Warriors would be a great landing spot.

Why Hezonja Would Be a Good Fit with the Dubs

The Warriors need more players with scoring talent, and Hezonja has plenty of it after averaging 15.0 points in 23.1 minutes last season.

He isn't an excellent shooter, having made just 33.4 percent of this threes this past season. With that said, he was at 39 percent-plus in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

The fact that he positional size is a plus. The Warriors have gone from being a small team to potentially being a big team when playing Hezonja alonside Lendeborg (6'9") at the 4 and Kristaps Porzingis (7'2") at the 5.

But the biggest reason Hezonja would be a good fit is his availability.

Hezonja has played at least 80 games in four consecutive seasons.

Though signing Hezonja after missing on James would lead to jokes about how much worse their Plan B is, he would be a good signing on the minimum.

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