Deni Avdija

[tleikheen]

Id rather see Deni, Rui , and Corey miss shots than see Barton ,Gill,Gibson ,Morris playing and taking up minutes that would benefit our younger players who I think will help the Wiz turn things around faster than watching the other guys play and lose .

[Frichuela]

Id rather see Deni, Rui , and Corey miss shots than see Barton ,Gill,Gibson ,Morris playing and taking up minutes that would benefit our younger players who I think will help the Wiz turn things around faster than watching the other guys play and lose .

100% with a modification: I'd focus on Deni and Corey. Rui should be traded by the deadline. No competent GM should be resigning him for more than $10 mn/year...but I'd bet you he'll get much more.

And indeed, Kuzma should be also traded by deadline, and try to get a late first for him.

[tleikheen]

trading Rui is making the Wiz into a minor league team ,our young talent blooming with smart teams while we get older

[Frichuela]

trading Rui is making the Wiz into a minor league team ,our young talent blooming with smart teams while we get older

Not necessarily, it depends what we get for Rui. For example, I'd trade Rui for Usman Garuba in a heart bit and never think twice. Garuba is a defensive monster with a high basketball IQ. He would fit like a glove with a stretch 5 such as Porzingis. Obviously, you would think Houston has a better front office than us...but maybe there is a small chance they get blinded by the $$$$ marketing appeal of Rui?

[dckingsfan]

Not gonna lie, I'm losing faith at this point.

Right there with you - but I am not giving up on him quite yet. If he is still at this point next season, then like Rui we need to move on from him...

[nate33]

It's extremely rare for a player to break out after his rookie contract is up. After 4 years, WYSIWYG. Unless Rui puts it together this year, it's pretty safe to assume he is what he is: a guy who can create a shot rather inefficiently, and who lacks the general basketball awareness to be a plus player on defense.

In a way, he reminds me a bit of Nick Young. Nick Young could do remarkable things in terms of shot creation or one-on-one defense, but he never really helped his team win because he just couldn't figure out how to do the things he does well within the context of a team system. Like Nick, Rui has all the physical tools to be an elite talent, but just doesn't have a feel for the game.

I think the best case scenario for Rui is that his career pans out to be a slightly worse version of Jeff Green. Jeff Green was a starter early in his career thanks to his draft pedigree and his physical attributes, but he never really figured things out during the first half of his career and didn't help his team win. He bounced around for a few years, always available in free agency and looking the part of a starter, but typically disappointing when thrust into a starter's role. But thanks to his raw talent, he stuck around in the league long enough to become a useful veteran role player in the twilight of his career.

Basically, we can choose to keep Rui on his next contract, and it could conceivably turn out to be a not-awful decision, but I seriously doubt it has any chance of being a value contract. I have no belief whatsoever that Rui has the upside to ever become an above-average starter (unless he turns things around pronto this year). Since it's likely that he will cost above-average starter money, I'm thinking extending him will be a bad idea.

EDIT: this should probably be in the Rui thread lol

[Runner300]

If you can accelerate, dunk, shoot and react fast - you can use all that in defense.
There's no such thing as "defensive talent".
It's all hard work, practice and proper coaching.

The biggest secret of Deni's "suprisingly elite" defense is - he's just willing to defend. He's ready to do the effort.

Rui could be an asset for any team if he were willing to defend.

[Wizraeli]

Not gonna lie, I'm losing faith at this point.

Right there with you - but I am not giving up on him quite yet. If he is still at this point next season, then like Rui we need to move on from him...

I think people are overreacting, Deni is only 21, he's not in the same boat as 24 years old Rui and not even 23 years old Kispert, there's no doubt Deni got some kind of a mental/confidence problem but the basketball is there in both sides of the court, he just needs to find the way to show it and feel comfortable playing in the NBA just like he is on the NT.

[dckingsfan]

Not gonna lie, I'm losing faith at this point.

Right there with you - but I am not giving up on him quite yet. If he is still at this point next season, then like Rui we need to move on from him...

I think people are overreacting, Deni is only 21, he's not in the same boat as 24 years old Rui and not even 23 years old Kispert, there's no doubt Deni got some kind of a mental/confidence problem but the basketball is there in both sides of the court, he just needs to find the way to show it and feel comfortable playing in the NBA just like he is on the NT.

I like the optimism and I sure hope you are right. One thing that concerns me is that he really hasn't taken large jumps in these three years.

This year is a small sample size so there is that but I would say he is actually worse this year than last year and that isn't a good trend.

Confidence is key - just look at Jan Vessley. If you could point at one flaw it was the confidence in his shot. I would say that we aren't there yet (.800 FT%) but it is a very large concern.

[Dolevi]

If he won't be able to shoot, he has no chance. Defenses do under coverage on him in the P&R, it's shutting him down. If he won't be able to shoot the 3, he's in a problem with all what's connected to set game. I'm encouraged by him taking more on himself when Beal's out and injuries / missing staff. But he must be more efficient, because actually he had some good looks. Depends on him right now and he won't get a lot of chances like last night.

[nate33]

Avdija has taken a grand total of 49 shots this season. That is far too low of a sample size to conclude much of anything.

6 games into the season, he was having a breakout year, shooting 41.7% from 3-point range and a TS% of .555.
4 games later, he is now having the worst season of his career, shooting 25% from 3-point range and a TS% of .440.

I don't think either narrative is accurate. I think we need more data.

So far, I see a guy putting up the same general per-possession numbers in all box score categories except shooting percentage, and this year, he is doing it against starters instead of backups. Overall, I'd say that's an improvement, although his foul rate is a concern. The shooting numbers will take more time to be meaningful since his shot volume is so low.

[tleikheen]

Rui could be an asset for any team if he were willing to defend.

The hate for Hachimura is so extreme defense its being used to want to get rid of him, when the Wiz defense is actually respectful being 13th in team defense . Where the Wiz are embarrassing is on the offense side of the ball. The Wiz rank 29th ,second from the bottom in team scoring and without Rui's scoring would be dead last. No one thought the Wiz would win because of their defense, most here would have thought the Wizards would win because we'd outscore most teams. Phoney to make it about defense with Rui.

[nate33]

Rui could be an asset for any team if he were willing to defend.

The hate for Hachimura is so extreme defense its being used to want to get rid of him, when the Wiz defense is actually respectful being 13th in team defense . Where the Wiz are embarrassing is on the offense side of the ball. The Wiz rank 29th ,second from the bottom in team scoring and without Rui's scoring would be dead last. No one thought the Wiz would win because of their defense, most here would have thought the Wizards would win because we'd outscore most teams. Phoney to make it about defense with Rui.

Just about everything in this post is incorrect.

First of all, the Wizards rank 24th on defense and 24th on offense.

Secondly, Hachimura's ORtg is 98, 2nd worst on the team and far below the team ORtg of 109.1. I don't see how it's possible that one can argue that he has improved the team's offense.

Finally, we actually have data on how the Wizards have fared offensively with Hachimura on the floor. When he is on the floor, the team ORtg is 98.9, which would rank worst in the league. We he is off the floor, the team ORtg is 119.8, which would rank 1st in the league. Now, all of that disparity isn't solely due to Hachimura, but it's preposterous to argue that the offense is better with him.

[tontoz]

Pretty embarrassing that Goodwin scored in double figures this season before Deni.

[BearlyBallin]

Back to Deni

Read on Twitter

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Got to celebrate when ever I can

[tontoz]

The play at the 1:25 mark in the vid above is what I want to see. He saw an opening, drove hard and tried to dunk rather than one of his finesse lay ins.

[Menace2Sobriety]

You can see when Deni defers (as he does with Beal in the lineup), he’s extremely tentative on offense. The Wiz are fortunate that he’s a plus player in most other facets.

But when he’s asked to take more accountability (just like w/ the National team), his confidence and offensive game changes - like tonight.

For me, he and Zinger should be the only 2 ‘untouchables’ on the roster. Much easier to build around their skill sets IMO.

[Dolevi]

You can see that when Deni defers (as he does with Beal in the lineup), he’s extremely tentative on offense. The Wiz are fortunate that he’s a plus player in most other facets.

But when he’s asked to take more accountability (just like w/ the National team), his confidence and offensive game changes - like tonight.

For me, he and Zinger should be the only 2 ‘untouchables’ on the roster. Much easier to build around their skill sets IMO.

Indeed, just like the role he has been taken when we tanked last season in the last games of it. If you'll get him involved and he'll touch the ball good things will happen. But I'm scared of what is to come when Beal's coming back and how it will influence the chemistry right now. This is his way to play basketball - the way he feels comfortable with. just like Kispert is comfortable with being a shooter. He has huge potential as a Point forward. And you can see glimpses with his passing skills, playmaking and creativity. If you give him confidence and keys to manage your game - he'll reward you. You just need trust and confidence from yourself, your teammates, coaches and fans.
The biggest plus is, his way of playing making the players around him better. The paragon is addictive.

[tontoz]

Important game for Deni. Hopefully this will help his confidence.

Let's not forget that Beal has missed 5 games. In the first 3 of those games Deni was a combined 7-29 from the field. Deni's struggles are much more about him than Beal.

[Kanyewest]

It's extremely rare for a player to break out after his rookie contract is up. After 4 years, WYSIWYG. Unless Rui puts it together this year, it's pretty safe to assume he is what he is: a guy who can create a shot rather inefficiently, and who lacks the general basketball awareness to be a plus player on defense.

In a way, he reminds me a bit of Nick Young. Nick Young could do remarkable things in terms of shot creation or one-on-one defense, but he never really helped his team win because he just couldn't figure out how to do the things he does well within the context of a team system. Like Nick, Rui has all the physical tools to be an elite talent, but just doesn't have a feel for the game.

I think the best case scenario for Rui is that his career pans out to be a slightly worse version of Jeff Green. Jeff Green was a starter early in his career thanks to his draft pedigree and his physical attributes, but he never really figured things out during the first half of his career and didn't help his team win. He bounced around for a few years, always available in free agency and looking the part of a starter, but typically disappointing when thrust into a starter's role. But thanks to his raw talent, he stuck around in the league long enough to become a useful veteran role player in the twilight of his career.

Basically, we can choose to keep Rui on his next contract, and it could conceivably turn out to be a not-awful decision, but I seriously doubt it has any chance of being a value contract. I have no belief whatsoever that Rui has the upside to ever become an above-average starter (unless he turns things around pronto this year). Since it's likely that he will cost above-average starter money, I'm thinking extending him will be a bad idea.

EDIT: this should probably be in the Rui thread lol

Interestingly enough, Nick Young and Jeff Green have had their moments on winning teams as role players. Nick Young was part of the bench mob with Clippers (Eric Bledsoe, Kenyon Martin, Bobby Simmons) that managed to upset the Grizzlies on the road in 2012. I believe this was Gilbert Arenas's last game in the NBA. Young actually posted decent efficiency numbers against the Spurs, problem was that Chris Paul had a 43 TS% as the Spurs ended up sweeping the Clippers. Plus he ended up winning a title with the Warriors as a rotation player - although this was probably towards the end of Young's career where he wasn't nearly as effective.

Jeff Green had his moment when he made his start in place of Kevin Love in game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals when the Cavaliers managed to get to another NBA Finals. Although there are plenty of times of Jeff Green coming up short earlier in his career, notably with the Grizzlies, Jazz, and Clippers. Green actually played pretty well on that Nets team that ended up taking the Bucks to 7 games and if Durant's foot was an inch further behind the line, perhaps Green would be viewed slightly differently.