Mario Hezonja: But the moment I thought would never come has arrived: leaving Real Madrid, leaving my home. This decision doesn't stem from a lack of your affection or a lack of desire to keep fighting for this badge, but from circumstances that have led me to take a different path. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for how you've treated me from day one. I have always tried to repay that affection by being as close to you as possible: before, during, and after matches, at the Foundation, around the city, and above all, on the court, giving my all on every possession to help the team win. And it is precisely there where I have felt your support the most: in good times and bad! Now I continue my journey with the same enthusiasm and ambition
with which I arrived. You already know me. I hope our paths cross again someday. I wish you all the best. I will always follow the team closely. THANK YOU! HALA MADRID AND NOTHING ELSE! I would also like to thank President Florentino Pérez and everyone who works at the club for these wonderful years. I also want to thank Alberto Herreros and Rudy Fernández for their professionalism, for the kind words they have always spoken about me, both privately and publicly, and for the image of support they have always projected.
More on Mario Hezonja & Real Madrid: Recent HoopsHype Rumors
Mario Hezonja: Never liked how I left the NBA but these past 5 years have been exactly what I wanted and much needed! I am super happy that my new chapter is with @cavs a team and organization that I have always admired and respected! — 8/1/2026 x.com
Michael Scotto: Update: The Cleveland Cavaliers signed Mario Hezonja to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal with a trigger date, sources told @hoopshype . His $2.8 million salary becomes fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster past November 15th. ESPN first reported an agreement for both sides. — 8/1/2026 x.com
NBABase: Mario Hezonja is already in Cleveland ? — 7/31/2026 x.com
Although the deal has not yet been made official, sources tell cleveland.com that the Cavaliers are working through the proper steps to get Hezonja released from his Real Madrid pact and there is no concern about the agreed-to deal being in jeopardy. Cleveland’s expectation is Hezonja will be in the team’s every-night rotation, providing much-needed frontcourt depth after the team lost versatile forward Dean Wade to the Sixers in free agency. — 7/31/2026 Cleveland Plain Dealer
KeithSmithNBA: The Cleveland Cavaliers have officially signed Mario Hezonja, according to the NBA transaction log. — 7/31/2026 Bluesky
One source close to the process told The Stein Line that Cleveland is "working through" the requisite steps to secure the needed FIBA Letter of Clearance from Real Madrid to officially sign Hezonja as a free agent. The Spanish giants are said to have pushed back on setting Hezonja free because he didn't have his next team lined up until July 26. Hezonja's Real Madrid contract featured an NBA out clause — requiring a $1 million payment to the club — that had to be formally exercised by July 20. According to a report in Spanish national sports daily Marca, Real Madrid has proposed retaining Hezonja's EuroLeague rights in exchange for letting him go to the NBA, thus ensuring that it would be able to re-sign Hezonja in the event that the 31-year-old leaves the NBA for a second time. — 7/29/2026 marcstein.substack.com
One of the most bizarre episodes of this whole saga that has been Hezonja's four seasons in white lies in how Madrid convinced him to renew. That June day, at the Filandón restaurant, the player was having lunch with some of the club's board members. They were trying to make him understand the tax issues hidden in Barça's offer in order to propose something better. Right in the middle of the meal, the police burst into the restaurant. A shooting had occurred on the nearby Pardo road (in which Begoña Villacís 's brother was killed ), and police were searching for the fugitives, so no one could leave the premises for quite some time. During this time, both parties finalized the extension of a contract that, ultimately, will not be honored. — 7/29/2026 ElMundo.es
His contradictions, his comings and goings, are as numerous as the journalists he's stuck with at X. The same journalists with whom he forces jokes and empathy at the slightest opportunity. "He's not a bad guy," say those who have been around him these past years on a team where, nevertheless, he leaves a sense of relief. Not enemies, but a caring teammate with a few anonymous gestures that compensated for his verbal excesses and some bad behavior, his mood swings and his egocentrism. Curiously, he will also be a relief, in sporting terms, for Pedro Martínez and his frenetic basketball system: the Croatian's talent doesn't exactly operate at the thousand revolutions per minute that the Catalan coach demands. And adapting him, as he will have to do with Tavares , will not be an easy task. Beyond the personalities of both players and the 'welcome' he gave him when Scariolo 's departure was announced . — 7/29/2026 ElMundo.es
What's clear in Cleveland: Even after the signing of Mario Hezonja, sources with knowledge of the Cavaliers' thinking insisted Monday that they continue to maintain Kuminga interest. The problem: Cleveland's lack of available salary-cap space means it would require a sign-and-trade to add Kuminga. And sources say that the Cavaliers, because they are already hard-capped at the first apron, have found it challenging to assemble a trade construction that Atlanta would find suitable. — 7/28/2026 marcstein.substack.com
Marc Stein: The Cavs and other teams have been pursuing Hezonja this offseason in hopes of capitalizing on a July 20 NBA out in his Real Madrid pact. The Spanish giants have reportedly pushed back on releasing the Croatian forward since he did not have his NBA team lined up until July 26. — 7/28/2026 Twitter @TheSteinLine
Shams Charania: EuroLeague star Mario Hezonja has agreed to a one-year, $2.8 million deal to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Michael Tellem of Excel Sports Management told ESPN. — 7/26/2026 x.com
Kevin O'Connor: Mario Hezonja shot 38.4% on catch-and-shoot 3s in his 4 years with Real Madrid. It’s a big leap from early in his career. He made just 31.9% of total 3s in the NBA. If his improvement translates, he can be an additive piece for the Cavaliers. — 7/26/2026 x.com
Lonnie Walker could be on the move again just one year after joining Maccabi Tel Aviv. According to Spanish journalist Chema de Lucas, Real Madrid are negotiating a deal to sign the former NBA guard. — 7/24/2026 EuroHoops.net
Sergio Llull will continue his historic career with Real Madrid for at least one more season. The club officially announced that the veteran guard has signed a contract extension through the end of the 2026-27 campaign. Llull joined Real Madrid in 2007 and is now set to enter his 20th season with the Spanish powerhouse. — 7/24/2026 BasketNews
Despite reports linking Hezonja with other EuroLeague clubs, BasketNews sources maintain that his future lies in the NBA. Hezonja reportedly rejected offers from three EuroLeague teams to sign conditional contracts that would have become active only if his NBA return ended prematurely. The 31-year-old was confident enough in his ability to establish himself in the league that he viewed such negotiations as unnecessary. Returning to the NBA has been Hezonja's goal for several years, which is why he negotiated an NBA exit clause into his Real Madrid contract. — 7/23/2026 BasketNews
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Mario Hezonja explains Real Madrid departure: ‘Leaving my home’
