WOJ: Blazers trade Brogdon and 14 for WAS or Deni Avdija

[Pattycakes]

Look at the contract too boy. This is the best contract in the league right now.

Barely paying him more than rookie lotto pick numbers. Idk how you could be mad at that. I really wanted Knecht but this is a guarantee (Deni looks to have a better all around game as well). Wonderful move, Cronin crushes it out of the park per usual. One day this man will earn some respect

Dalton might, no almost certainly will, be a better shooter / scorer but I would be FLOORED if he managed to develop anything close to the all around game that Deni brings. Handle, passing, defense - its night and day between the two.

Exactly. Dalton should be an instant plug and play shooter in LA. Deni will have a chance to be a major part of our offense and what we build.

[m0ng0]

Look at the contract too boy. This is the best contract in the league right now.

Barely paying him more than rookie lotto pick numbers. Idk how you could be mad at that. I really wanted Knecht but this is a guarantee (Deni looks to have a better all around game as well). Wonderful move, Cronin crushes it out of the park per usual. One day this man will earn some respect

Dalton might, no almost certainly will, be a better shooter / scorer but I would be FLOORED if he managed to develop anything close to the all around game that Deni brings. Handle, passing, defense - its night and day between the two.

Exactly. Dalton should be an instant plug and play shooter in LA. Deni will have a chance to be a major part of our offense and what we build.

I agree this was an incredibly savy move by Cronin

[dunlop212]

When has PDX been good without a forward who rebounds, attacks the basket, and plays defense? Reminds me of taking Lucas in the expansion draft, swapping Bowie for Buck Williams, and trading Strickland for Rasheed Wallace. Not saying that he is as good as each of those guys, but getting a real player at that position has always been an indicator of the team turning the corner.

[arusinov]

He should be fun to watch and I hope he's a future star.

That said, I'm kind of a Deni skeptic. His counting stats look good, but he was in a great situation to to rack those up with a big role on a bad team (we had plenty of opportunity to see this effect firsthand last season). I'm concerned that the way he appears to be pretty good at everything might be hiding the fact that he's not particularly good at anything. It seems like his strengths--size at his position and driving ability--might be hard to really leverage as part of a great team. I don't think Washington would have made this trade if they thought his long-term upside was especially high. At this point I trust the team who worked with him for several years more than I trust the Blazers' scouting and player development staff.

For that reason, I think the price was high. The Blazers are letting a lot of value go for someone who might not move the needle much. I don't think the value is terrible either, but at this point I'm siding with the camp who'd rather use our assets taking bigger swings.

There're known prototypes of players putting big stats on bad team.

First, guys which shot huge amount of bad shots with ridiculously high for their scoring abilities usage like Evan Turner, Nick Young and so on. Deni didn't get really high usage for most of year, and he was efficient.

Some guys on bad teams don't play defense at all (or can't play defense in any case)... but Deni was probably the best defender on Wizards when they were mediocre team, and when they were horrible. Deni's on/off per 100 poss. was +6.9 this season, while other starters had -4.7 - Kuzma, -5.4 - Poole and even -6.1 - Tyus Jones.

Sure, there certainly some guys which randomly get good year together with more chances to show themselves on bad team, and it may be the case - as you hinting that Wizards don't really believe in Deni's potential if they did this trade... The story is: Wizards sadly did everything and then a bit more to ensure that Deni wouldn't be able to reach his potential: they stuck and forgot him in the corner his rookie year when Russ + Beal run as historically (or more hysterically) high-usage (and pretty dumb) offensive back-court, then he had to became full time defensive stopper to stay in rotation second year when they brought 2 starting forwards in trade, and drafted another wing, 3rd year coaching was just... incoherent, and after finally they installed coach which started to actually use him correctly... they traded him. It's sad for me as I was really hoping he will prove his worth while playing for the team which drafted him - but he could be much better already if he was drafted by those who were interested in developing players.

Anyway. Except that logics of the statement "they agreed to trade him for Brogdon + 2 FRP + 2 seconds... so he probably doesn't worth this" is a bit convoluted - there're several things to take into account. Wizards maybe really felt that Deni doesn't suit their timeline as they aren't going to be good team another 4-5 years, they probably also were afraid his shooting will get worse that year... And it could be the case, but it's less important than it seems. Deni's scoring is mostly inside, shooting needed to open driving lines, but it's secondary. It's much more psychologic issue than real limitation. If he is shooting say 34% but takes and hits with decent enough percent open 3PA including pull-ups - he can score 18+, and even 20 ppg with above average efficiency. After all Luka is ~35% career 3P shooter, and Jimmy Butler is career 33% on 3P.

Actually I don't really see why driving ability would be hard to leverage on good team. Sure if the team wants to misuse and underuse Deni as low-usage 3&D player - it maybe the case. But it's horrible idea even if he shots 40%. On other hand if he set to be in Portland what he actually is e.g, playmaking wing his driving ability is very easy to leverage. Let's say he is 3rd option (if thing are good - 2nd/3rd) on offense. It means that he has ball in his hands to use his driving (+ running p&r, posting up smaller guards) but the opponent can't stuck on him their best wing defender full time... So he is guarded not by bad defender but just by the one which usually defends against SF... and large majority of NBA players aren't quick or/and big enough to guard him on drive.

[Walton1one]

Nice info, thanks

I think by adding Avdija, POR is getting another secondary playmaker to play off of Clingan & Scoot. If POR adds\develops some perimeter shooters they have the start of something to build off of.

[BlazersBroncos]

Nice info, thanks

I think by adding Avdija, POR is getting another secondary playmaker to play off of Clingan & Scoot. If POR adds\develops some perimeter shooters they have the start of something to build off of.

A non-tiny secondary playmaker has been what this team has needed since Batum. Its going to be so nice to not rely on guys 6'3 and under to play make 100% of the time.

[dckingsfan]

I'm indifferent here, that 2029 pick could be costly but deni is on a value contract and washington seems upset about the trade so maybe it's not bad

Yeah, I think you owned us on this one. If Deni continues his trajectory, you will be able to cash in this year or next for even better picks.

And by doing this deal with a really good contract, you were able to sign Clingan.

You will like Deni, I think. He is a defensive minded, pass first team player.

[dckingsfan]

Deni is a great jack-of-all trades type player. Great court-vision for a forward, good defense and hustle. If he can get his shots to fall like they did last year, we have a cornerstone. I worry about some regression in that department.
But this is a happy day so far. Good job Cronin!

I see it the other way. I think he is going to improve next year.

[Runner300]

There's no mistery here.
The main reason for Deni's "outbreak" in year 4 was the fact they gave him the keys as a primary/secondary offensive ballhandler. For big stretches of the game. If he doesn't get the ball, he will not be effective.

[Pistol King]

There's no mistery here.
The main reason for Deni's "outbreak" in year 4 was the fact they gave him the keys as a primary/secondary offensive ballhandler. For big stretches of the game. If he doesn't get the ball, he will not be effective.

They could still have done a better job developing him. Only around January after they replaced a coach and brought Brian Keefe to the front seat, he started utilizing Deni as a more of primary option. The key was upping his minutes from ~28MPG till February to 34-35MPG since. Despite outplaying Kuzma and Poole at the second half of the season, the organization was 'committed' to these two as their first option for some reason, otherwise we'd have seen even a bigger leap of him.

I'm trying for five days to figure out why Will Dawkins did this trade, have heard many different answers, but non has convinced me it was the right choice.

Can only hope the Blazers would push Deni to the maximum. This guy is a willing listener, a very hard worker who would do whatever it takes to reach his ceiling, but not at the cost of what the system wants from him, so it's important the Blazers organization themselves would show him they want to maximize his potential.

[dckingsfan]

There's no mistery here.
The main reason for Deni's "outbreak" in year 4 was the fact they gave him the keys as a primary/secondary offensive ballhandler. For big stretches of the game. If he doesn't get the ball, he will not be effective.

They could still have done a better job developing him. Only around January after they replaced a coach and brought Brian Keefe to the front seat, he started utilizing Deni as a more of primary option. The key was upping his minutes from ~28MPG till February to 34-35MPG since. Despite outplaying Kuzma and Poole at the second half of the season, the organization was 'committed' to these two as their first option for some reason, otherwise we'd have seen even a bigger leap of him.

I'm trying for five days to figure out why Will Dawkins did this trade, have heard many different answers, but none has convinced me it was the right choice.

Can only hope the Blazers would push Deni to the maximum. This guy is a willing listener, a very hard worker who would do whatever it takes to reach his ceiling, but not at the cost of what the system wants from him, so it's important the Blazers organization themselves would show him they want to maximize his potential.

This.

And he is a + defender. You can put him at either forward spot and choose to go big or small. He doesn't have to be the primary focus of the offense; he just needs to be included.

I am really interested to see how your coach utilizes him (positionally (which forward position) and in the offense).

[Norm2953]

This sounds like Deni can be used in Nicolas Batum's old role in Portland.

He won't be the athlete Nic was but Nic could be so maddingly so inconsistent. Portland
has needed a secondary ball handler, especially now with Malcolm Brogdon traded.

[Pattycakes]

Denis contract is the gift that keeps on giving. Imagine he’s up to 18/7 at some point at we start winning, and we have a young coveted 3&d making less than the mle

[m0ng0]

Denis contract is the gift that keeps on giving. Imagine he’s up to 18/7 at some point at we start winning, and we have a young coveted 3&d making less than the mle

If he does have as good or hopefully better season you know we would have to re do the deal

[BNM]

There's no mistery here.
The main reason for Deni's "outbreak" in year 4 was the fact they gave him the keys as a primary/secondary offensive ballhandler. For big stretches of the game. If he doesn't get the ball, he will not be effective.

They could still have done a better job developing him. Only around January after they replaced a coach and brought Brian Keefe to the front seat, he started utilizing Deni as a more of primary option. The key was upping his minutes from ~28MPG till February to 34-35MPG since. Despite outplaying Kuzma and Poole at the second half of the season, the organization was 'committed' to these two as their first option for some reason, otherwise we'd have seen even a bigger leap of him.

I'm trying for five days to figure out why Will Dawkins did this trade, have heard many different answers, but none has convinced me it was the right choice.

Can only hope the Blazers would push Deni to the maximum. This guy is a willing listener, a very hard worker who would do whatever it takes to reach his ceiling, but not at the cost of what the system wants from him, so it's important the Blazers organization themselves would show him they want to maximize his potential.

This.

And he is a + defender. You can put him at either forward spot and choose to go big or small. He doesn't have to be the primary focus of the offense; he just needs to be included.

I am really interested to see how your coach utilizes him (positionally (which forward position) and in the offense).

On paper, Deni looks like EXACTLY what Portland needs. Unfortunately, his talents will be wasted under the worst, least imaginative coach in the league.

Under Billups, POR runs a ridiculously simplistic, antiquated, ISO heavy offense with little player or ball movement. Billups has trouble figuring out how to use a primary playmaker (POR last in the league in AST/G by a HUGE margin - POR further from the 29th place team than the 29th place team is from the 18th place team). You can forget him figuring out how to use a secondary playmaker, especially a 6'9" forward, when he can't even figure out how to efficiently use a primary playmaker, or any secondary actions when the primary ISO sets fail.

Under Billups, expect Deni to be wasted and to stagnate, or even regress. The good news is Billups only has 1 guaranteed year left on his contract - or 2 years if they are dumb enough to pick up the team option (who knows, they were dumb enough to hire him). I hope that isn't enough to ruin Deni before POR hires a real coach.

On the bright side, with Billups at the helm, POR will again have one of the worst records in the league and a shot a high draft pick. Hopefully, the ping pong balls will be kinder to us in 2024 than they were in 2024. That's really all we have to look forward to as long as Chauncey is our coach.

[TGW]

I’m a wizards fan. I was borderline about to quit the team over this trade.

Deni is loved. Imagine watching Sharpe turn into a legitimate NBA stud and then trading him for a couple of mid-first.

Bummer to hear Chauncey isn’t an imaginative coach. Deni has played under some doodoo coaches; once Unseld Jr was fired, Deni was fantastic.

[Runner300]

They could still have done a better job developing him. Only around January after they replaced a coach and brought Brian Keefe to the front seat, he started utilizing Deni as a more of primary option. The key was upping his minutes from ~28MPG till February to 34-35MPG since. Despite outplaying Kuzma and Poole at the second half of the season, the organization was 'committed' to these two as their first option for some reason, otherwise we'd have seen even a bigger leap of him.

I'm trying for five days to figure out why Will Dawkins did this trade, have heard many different answers, but none has convinced me it was the right choice.

Can only hope the Blazers would push Deni to the maximum. This guy is a willing listener, a very hard worker who would do whatever it takes to reach his ceiling, but not at the cost of what the system wants from him, so it's important the Blazers organization themselves would show him they want to maximize his potential.

This.

And he is a + defender. You can put him at either forward spot and choose to go big or small. He doesn't have to be the primary focus of the offense; he just needs to be included.

I am really interested to see how your coach utilizes him (positionally (which forward position) and in the offense).

On paper, Deni looks like EXACTLY what Portland needs. Unfortunately, his talents will be wasted under the worst, least imaginative coach in the league.

Under Billups, POR runs a ridiculously simplistic, antiquated, ISO heavy offense with little player or ball movement. Billups has trouble figuring out how to use a primary playmaker (POR last in the league in AST/G by a HUGE margin - POR further from the 29th place team than the 29th place team is from the 18th place team). You can forget him figuring out how to use a secondary playmaker, especially a 6'9" forward, when he can't even figure out how to efficiently use a primary playmaker, or any secondary actions when the primary ISO sets fail.

Under Billups, expect Deni to be wasted and to stagnate, or even regress. The good news is Billups only has 1 guaranteed year left on his contract - or 2 years if they are dumb enough to pick up the team option (who knows, they were dumb enough to hire him). I hope that isn't enough to ruin Deni before POR hires a real coach.

On the bright side, with Billups at the helm, POR will again have one of the worst records in the league and a shot a high draft pick. Hopefully, the ping pong balls will be kinder to us in 2024 than they were in 2024. That's really all we have to look forward to as long as Chauncey is our coach.

The worst possible combination for Deni (or any other young player) -
being stuck as a d&3 on a losing team with no vision or structure and a bad coach.
I hope Blazers are nothing like this.

[closg00]

On paper, Deni looks like EXACTLY what Portland needs. Unfortunately, his talents will be wasted under the worst, least imaginative coach in the league.

Under Billups, POR runs a ridiculously simplistic, antiquated, ISO heavy offense with little player or ball movement. Billups has trouble figuring out how to use a primary playmaker (POR last in the league in AST/G by a HUGE margin - POR further from the 29th place team than the 29th place team is from the 18th place team). You can forget him figuring out how to use a secondary playmaker, especially a 6'9" forward, when he can't even figure out how to efficiently use a primary playmaker, or any secondary actions when the primary ISO sets fail.

Under Billups, expect Deni to be wasted and to stagnate, or even regress. The good news is Billups only has 1 guaranteed year left on his contract - or 2 years if they are dumb enough to pick up the team option (who knows, they were dumb enough to hire him). I hope that isn't enough to ruin Deni before POR hires a real coach.

On the bright side, with Billups at the helm, POR will again have one of the worst records in the league and a shot a high draft pick. Hopefully, the ping pong balls will be kinder to us in 2024 than they were in 2024. That's really all we have to look forward to as long as Chauncey is our coach.

Another Wiz fan chiming in, what you described about your offense would not be the best to plug Deni into. However, he played with ball hog iso players Kuzma and Poole, Deni is versatile enough to make the best of being in crappy offensive sets once he gets acclimated with his teammates, he is a toolbox guy who knows how to play the right way and will compete every night. Deni’s weaknesses are not finishing strong around the rim, and a hesitancy to shoot the ball, he does not play like a traditional wing, he is not a gunner, so his shooting is hit or miss. BUT, he was improving every year. Deni is the type of player you want on your team, we are going to miss him terribly.

[Pattycakes]

I’m a wizards fan. I was borderline about to quit the team over this trade.

Deni is loved. Imagine watching Sharpe turn into a legitimate NBA stud and then trading him for a couple of mid-first.

Bummer to hear Chauncey isn’t an imaginative coach. Deni has played under some doodoo coaches; once Unseld Jr was fired, Deni was fantastic.

People are a lil negative around these parts.. I’m sure Chauncey and Deni will grow to love each other and be fine

[Shem]

A video breaking down Deni's defense that was released nearly a year ago.

Watch on YouTube