Mario Hezonja is going back to the NBA, and Hapoel Tel Aviv is left to wonder what might have been. ONE reports that the Croatian forward has signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, ending a chase for his signature that had also drawn one of Israel's biggest clubs.

The deal is a one-year contract worth a reported $2.8 million, according to ONE and confirmed independently by ESPN and the Cavaliers' own release on Friday. It caps a saga that dragged through most of July, with Real Madrid initially reluctant to release him from a long-term contract that ran through 2029.

Hezonja, 31, last played in the NBA in the 2019-20 season with the Portland Trail Blazers, having also worn the uniforms of the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks after Orlando took him fifth overall in the star-studded 2015 draft. His return ends a six-year absence from the league.

In Europe, he built one of the more compelling second acts in recent EuroLeague history. He won the continental title with Real Madrid in 2023 and was named Liga Endesa's regular-season MVP this year, numbers that made his NBA comeback a genuine basketball story rather than a nostalgic footnote.

To get to Cleveland, ONE reports he had to exercise an exit clause in his Real Madrid contract, a process that reportedly grew complicated before the two sides settled terms and cleared his path to the NBA.

He did not lack for suitors closer to home. ONE and Israeli outlets including Israel Hayom reported that Hapoel Tel Aviv had been chasing Hezonja as the marquee addition to strengthen their roster for the coming EuroLeague campaign, only for the Croatian to prioritize his NBA return instead.

ONE also reports that he turned down offers from several other EuroLeague clubs along the way, with returning to what he has called the best league in the world cited as the deciding factor throughout the process.

For Cleveland, a team that reached the playoffs with genuine title aspirations, Hezonja arrives as an experienced floor-spacer and versatile wing option, the kind of depth piece contenders look to add on modest, one-year money.

The move closes the book on one of this summer's more closely watched free-agency subplots in both the NBA and EuroLeague, and it means Hapoel Tel Aviv will need to look elsewhere for the marquee reinforcement it had been chasing.