Deni Avdija - Part II

[nate33]

Also: doesn’t this make Deni the first Wizards draft pick since Beal to net a second contract? That’s 11 years. Congrats, young man.

Otto Porter. But that’s it.

[Hibachi_0]

Amazing deal. Either if you believe in him fulfilling his potential or not (I do), now we have another 2-3 years to find out without risking his salary being a burden in the future.

[DCZards]

Good move. Shows a ton of confidence in Deni that you hope he responds to and suggests that Dawkins & Co have seen enough of Deni to believe he could be a core piece.

[FAH1223]

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[wco81]

Overpay based on what he's done so far. But not a terrible deal considering some of the other contracts. Definitely better than keeping & paying Rui. Has got to shoot better to have any real offensive value though otherwise he's nothing more than a 15-20 minute rotation 4/3. Personally I think he's best at PF too.

This is a great deal. Shows faith in Deni while still being a team friendly deal for a 22 year-old that has shown he can do a little bit of everything and plays the right way.

Does he have flaws to his game? Obviously. He really needs to take a jump this season with his trey ball to solidify himself as a starter, and needs to stop being willy-nilly with some of his passes. Also needs to show more aggression and go left a bit more. The three ball to me is by far the most glaring issue he has with his game.

Will he be a starter will he play behind Coulibaly and Kuzma?

Will it be a good contract if he's a backup who plays 25 minutes (his career average) or less in case Coulibaly plays really well and commands over 30 MPG as a rookie?

[queridiculo]

If you're projecting him to be anything more than he's currently I guess it's an ok deal.

Beyond that it's a massive overpay.

Surely you can get more production from a MLE contract.

Don't get it from Avdija's camp either.

That's not a deal that screams confidence, or a man betting on himself.

No opt-out, no performance clauses?

Seems like poor business.

[9 and 20]

Seems like a good deal, tbh, both for the player and the team. Life changing money for a young kid and can get paid even more later. For the team, the MLE for a defensive wing/forward that can play 20 min a game seems decent. If he learns to shoot, it's a steal!

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Overpay based on what he's done so far. But not a terrible deal considering some of the other contracts. Definitely better than keeping & paying Rui. Has got to shoot better to have any real offensive value though otherwise he's nothing more than a 15-20 minute rotation 4/3. Personally I think he's best at PF too.

This is a great deal. Shows faith in Deni while still being a team friendly deal for a 22 year-old that has shown he can do a little bit of everything and plays the right way.

Does he have flaws to his game? Obviously. He really needs to take a jump this season with his trey ball to solidify himself as a starter, and needs to stop being willy-nilly with some of his passes. Also needs to show more aggression and go left a bit more. The three ball to me is by far the most glaring issue he has with his game.

Will he be a starter will he play behind Coulibaly and Kuzma?

Will it be a good contract if he's a backup who plays 25 minutes (his career average) or less in case Coulibaly plays really well and commands over 30 MPG as a rookie?

He's starting, will likely play close to 30 MPG. Maybe more if his three ball sees marked improvement.

[nate33]

Surely you can get more production from a MLE contract.

Can you?

Guys making MLE money right now:
Marvin Bagley
Grant Williams
Dennis Schroeder
Rashaun Holmes
Devonte Graham
Austin Reaves

Reaves is better, but was signed in a weird situation when nobody had cap room and the Lakers were contenders. Schroeder is probably a little better, but he is 30 and nobody seems to want to keep him for long (and guards are much easier to find than 6-9 forwards). I'd take Deni over the rest of those guys. Grant Williams is overrated. He does absolutely nothing on offense except shoot 3's. You can guard him with your worst defender. And he won't even rebound.

Factor that Deni is only 22 and is likely to improve at least marginally going forward and I'm very happy with the deal.

[payitforward]

Better than Rui for this team.

Why?

Rui put up better numbers in his 3 seasons than Deni has....

Nope.
Neither of them has been any good overall, but in each of the 3 seasons the two guys were both on the team, Deni put up better numbers than Rui.

...then Rui went to the Lakers and had a very good postseason and got himself a 3-year $51 million extension.

Rui's regular season numbers with LA were the best he'd posted. Not "good" objectively but his best ever & better than Deni. & he did have a very good postseason.

If he continues to post numbers at that level he'll be better than anything Deni has shown so far. No question. At the same time, keep in mind that Rui is fully 3 years older than Deni!

I got the sense that Wizards really didn't want to extend Rui so they basically sold him on the cheap, didn't get much back unless Nunn or one of those SRPs turn into key players.

Nunn? He isn't on the team.
Sold him on the cheap? Are you suggesting that some other team offered more for Rui, but Tommy preferred to take less?
It's an open market. Nunn & 3 R2 picks was the best offer we got for Rui.

...Deni is a poor shooter, worse than Hachimura.... What is the one or two things he does well...?

Deni gets more rebounds than Rui. He gets more assists than Rui. He turns the ball over less than Rui. He gets more steals than Rui. & he blocks more shots than Rui.

All the same, Deni being better overall than Rui so far isn't saying much. E.g. it isn't saying that he's been "good."

In fact, both Deni & Rui have been disappointing -- in the sense that many guys taken later in each of their drafts have been far better NBA players.

Rui & Deni -- two bad draft picks.

[closg00]

How-much of a risk would it have been to see what his worth would be in FA, AFTER we evaluated him this season? He took the money rather than test his value in FA. If Deni ends-up being a utility bench player, the contract may be an over-pay, TBD.

[Frichuela]

I mean, Kudos to this front office for prudent spending on Deni's extension. See how much Jaden McDaniels just got:

https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1716518970352894258?s=20

[payitforward]

I think this was a deal very much worth doing. Deni hasn't lived up to his billing. Still, given the trajectory of salaries towards the stratosphere, this contract is an excellent value.

[Benjammin]

It's a descending salary deal, which is awesome.

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2024-25: $15,625,000
2025-26: $14,375,000
2026-27: $13,125,000
2027-28: $11,875,000

[Frichuela]

It's a descending salary deal, which is awesome.

Read on Twitter

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2024-25: $15,625,000
2025-26: $14,375,000
2026-27: $13,125,000
2027-28: $11,875,000

Agreed. So refreshing to have a competent front office, who are prudent and smart in their spending. $11mn for Avdija in 27-28 is gonna be a bargain, particularly if his 3pt shot finally comes around.

[Halcyon]

Another descending deal, love it!

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[AFM]

Nate is going to love that

[nate33]

It's a descending salary deal, which is awesome.

Read on Twitter

?s=20

2024-25: $15,625,000
2025-26: $14,375,000
2026-27: $13,125,000
2027-28: $11,875,000

[nate33]

In the 2026-27 season, Kuzma, Avdija and Coulibaly will cost 25% of the cap combined, and just 20% of the luxtax limit. That's for 3 guys who can all defend 3 or 4 positions while being very versatile on offense (assuming good development from Bilal). Teams really struggle to find guys like that, and we have 3 of them locked in for 4 years at a low price.

If we can ever find a superstar, those 3 guys are going to be excellent complements. (Or maybe, Coulibaly becomes one of those superstars.)

I'd really like to see the Wizards target Okongwu in the offseason. The team is shaping up to be a quality switch-everything defense. We just need a switchable center to anchor it (and, at some point, a big point guard).

EDIT: Damn! Hawks just extended Okongwu for 4 years/$62M. That's a good price!

[FAH1223]

In the 2026-27 season, Kuzma, Avdija and Coulibaly will cost 25% of the cap combined, and just 20% of the luxtax limit. That's for 3 guys who can all defend 3 or 4 positions while being very versatile on offense (assuming good development from Bilal). Teams really struggle to find guys like that, and we have 3 of them locked in for 4 years at a low price.

If we can ever find a superstar, those 3 guys are going to be excellent complements. (Or maybe, Coulibaly becomes one of those superstars.)

I'd really like to see the Wizards target Okongwu in the offseason. The team is shaping up to be a quality switch-everything defense. We just need a switchable center to anchor it (and, at some point, a big point guard).

ATL just re-signed Okongwu to 4 years $62M.