Deni Avdija

[Dolevi]

1 year later and still dislike him as much as I did on draft night. You're not given the ball or opportunity to be a "playmaker" when you can't score or carry an offense. Every team wants to score 130 a night, there's no time to give the ball to Deni.

He definetely needs to prove himself. But tbh right now it looks like he's gonna be out of the rotation. I'm not sure how many chances he will get when returning from his injury, but probably if he won't do well, his way to G-league / Euroleague will be short. Unless another team in the NBA will try to develop him.

[Gig18]

Man. You guys are overreacting. He's gonna play and he's gonna be good.

[The_Hater]

Man. You guys are overreacting. He's gonna play and he's gonna be good.

If the Wiz don’t like him, I’d take him on my team in a heartbeat. Love his smarts and his skill level, he’ll be just fine.

[nate33]

Man. You guys are overreacting. He's gonna play and he's gonna be good.

Agreed.

The only caveat is that, with his injury, he presumably wasn't able to work on his game as diligently as other players. He may not show the same progression we might expect, at least early on in the season.

[payitforward]

From the Athletic, part of an article by Fred Katz that's behind a paywall....

"I assume Avdija will facilitate more than he did last season, even if he plays less. So much of his role as a rookie included him parking himself in the corner. But I don’t think the new coaching staff views him the same way, and I figure with Westbrook gone, Avdija has an even better chance to handle the ball, considering how often the nine-time All-Star controlled the offense last season. Avdija's touches per 100 possessions increased nearly 33 percent when Westbrook was off the floor in 2020-21, according to information compiled by data-tracking site Second Spectrum....

New head coach Wes Unseld Jr. pitched inventive ways to use Avdija, who was more of a creator when he played in Israel, during the interview process with Washington. The team doesn't view him as the starter, as it did a season ago, which means he could receive more opportunities to handle, too...."

Title is: "Wizards’ Deni Avdija as a playmaker, Bradley Beal’s chances to make All-NBA, Davis Bertans’ future and more"

[Dolevi]

Agreed.

I hope he will be able to gain confidence if coach will play with him this way. I still believe in his potential to be a very good player in this league, but it won't happen by letting him shoot bricks, he needs to playmake the game, but indeed it will happen only from the bench (and it's not bad idea). I think it will be good for him. If things go well, he can find himself getting more and more minuets and credit.

Now it's up to Deni. The pressure to prove himself will be on his weight now, not coach and not Westbrook. At the end of this season we will know what the kid's got.

[Jimmy Recard]

Hmm…bringing him off the bench would’ve made more sense last season IMO…given Russ’ ball dominance and the fact he was still a rookie. Bringing him off the bench now after starting him his whole rookie year seems like a step backwards.

“The team doesn’t view him as the starter as it did last year” doesn’t exactly scream confidence.

[payitforward]

Well, a whole lot has changed since last year. Especially, we've acquired about a zillion forwards!

[bsilver]

The SF position last year was a mess. What were the options other than Deni, who clearly wasn't yet a starting caliber NBA player?
Bonga was terrible.
Chandler Hutchinson was terrible.
Troy Brown Jr. seemed to be in Brooks doghouse and wasn't given much of chance.
Brooks never considered Bertans to be an SF.
So we suffered through the ridiculous 3 guard lineups.

Deni must know he hasn't yet earned the starting SF job. Let him prove he deserves to play now that we have other options.

[gambitx777]

I personally feel Rui should start at the 3 he can shoot. He can move and he can defend the position . Deni should be the primary back up at the 4/3 spot to ball handle some when din is resting or out. Obviously depends on if bertans is moved or healthy

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[nate33]

I personally feel Rui should start at the 3 he can shoot. He can move and he can defend the position . Deni should be the primary back up at the 4/3 spot to ball handle some when din is resting or out. Obviously depends on if bertans is moved or healthy

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Rui is the only true PF on the roster other than Gill

Yeah, Rui can play some 3, but so can Kuzma, Avdija, Bertans, KCP and Kispert.

But none of those guys can really match up with starting caliber, full-sized, true PF's like Julius Randle, Giannis and Anthony Davis. Rui is the only guy who can guard them. So Rui will be the PF.

I don't really care what you call Rui on offense. Lot's of PF's play like a 3 on offense these days and Rui can too.

The way I look at it, you are the position you can defend. Rui will be the 4.

[payitforward]

I personally feel Rui should start at the 3 he can shoot. He can move and he can defend the position . Deni should be the primary back up at the 4/3 spot to ball handle some when din is resting or out. Obviously depends on if bertans is moved or healthy

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Rui is the only true PF on the roster other than Gill

Yeah, Rui can play some 3, but so can Kuzma, Avdija, Bertans, KCP and Kispert.

But none of those guys can really match up with starting caliber, full-sized, true PF's like Julius Randle, Giannis and Anthony Davis. Rui is the only guy who can guard them. So Rui will be the PF.

I don't really care what you call Rui on offense. Lot's of PF's play like a 3 on offense these days and Rui can too.

The way I look at it, you are the position you can defend. Rui will be the 4.

How'd I let this get by me? What happened to all those "interchangeable forwards" we'd been hearing about, nate?

Spoiler:

You don't need to answer -- I'm just pulling your leg.

[FAH1223]

https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtonwizards/comments/qfka65/coach_unseld_response_about_deni_avdija_and_his/

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The SF position last year was a mess. What were the options other than Deni, who clearly wasn't yet a starting caliber NBA player?
Bonga was terrible.
Chandler Hutchinson was terrible.
Troy Brown Jr. seemed to be in Brooks doghouse and wasn't given much of chance.
Brooks never considered Bertans to be an SF.
So we suffered through the ridiculous 3 guard lineups.

Deni must know he hasn't yet earned the starting SF job. Let him prove he deserves to play now that we have other options.

[NBA] CHI @ TOR, Final : 111 : 108
https://www.thescore.com/nba/events/2390580

Troy Brown had 11 points in just 16 minutes for the 4-0 Chicago Bulls last night.

Gafford and Brown are both better off after the trade.

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[queridiculo]

Even if you move Avdija to PF, he still needs to be able to knock down open shots or he's just hurting the team out there on the floor.

Waste of a lottery pick if his shooting doesn't come around.

[gambitx777]

Even if you move Avdija to PF, he still needs to be able to knock down open shots or he's just hurting the team out there on the floor.

Waste of a lottery pick if his shooting doesn't come around.

And yet some people still wanna trade for Ben Simmons lol. And before I get flamed I know there is a difference but if rather have deni that Ben. I said what I said!

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[closg00]

Even if you move Avdija to PF, he still needs to be able to knock down open shots or he's just hurting the team out there on the floor.

Waste of a lottery pick if his shooting doesn't come around.

I believe the flow of the offense is the problem, if we had quick, fast passes that created better looks, Deni & Corey would be able to do their thing. Corey is more aggressive and confident, Deni not so-much, he often passes-up shots...lacks an inner killer so-far.

[Dark Faze]

Deni's best chance to be a starter is to shoot the ball better than 35% from deep. That paired with his high potential defensively would make for a high caliber roleplayer.

That's probably his ceiling right now. His jumpshot needs to be his number 1 priority at the moment as its what will keep him in the league.

[gambitx777]

Deni's best chance to be a starter is to shoot the ball better than 35% from deep. That paired with his high potential defensively would make for a high caliber roleplayer.

That's probably his ceiling right now. His jumpshot needs to be his number 1 priority at the moment as its what will keep him in the league.

Obviously different players but I look at him like I looked at sato all those years. Just a jumper away from being really good.

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[NatP4]

Deni needs to be playing a lot more minutes, but through 4 games:

Per 36: 9.7 points 8.8 rebounds 2.9 assists 1.9 blocks 1.0 steals 1.0 turnovers 57% TS. 121 offensive rating 102 defensive rating.