Deni Avdija

[Runner300]

IMHO, given the "defensive" ticket - he makes extra effort in defense, leaving no energy for already problematic offense.
Thus directly hurting his statistics and the future of his NBA career.
At 20, he should be driving, shooting, missing, making TO's and trying "funny" stuff on offense.
His statistics would still look bad , but at least he'd be trying out moves and honing abilities.

[Ruzious]

Now in the adales of history Toni Kukoč ended up being a pretty good NBA player. I see deni being a better Kukoč but deni needs to get better on the O end.

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

It's not fair to compare them. Kukoc was a special offensive player. Granted, he was a forward in the NBA, but he was regarded as the best PG in all of Europe when he was there. He had to play 3rd fiddle in Chicago, only because they had Jordan and Pippen.

I think it's fair. He was a good defender, as I recall. I was very young so maybe I'm missing some bits. But, in defence and passing ability they are very similar players. If deni can put a shot together I think they are very comparable .

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

They're really not at all comparable. Kukoc played at a dramatically higher level, and I'm saying that knowing Kukoc was not at all good defensively.

[badinage]

I just looked up his advanced defensive stats:

Opponents are shooting 36.2% against him.

3.8 makes out of 10.4 attempts per game.

In my book, that’s 6.6 possessions created. Add in the 5.1 rebounds per game, and you have a player who, in 21.3 minutes, is creating just under 12.7 possessions a game.

[arusinov]

I just looked up his advanced defensive stats:

Opponents are shooting 36.2% against him.

3.8 makes out of 10.4 attempts per game.

In my book, that’s 6.6 possessions created. Add in the 5.1 rebounds per game, and you have a player who, in 21.3 minutes, is creating just under 12.7 possessions a game.

Maybe more interesting is this one: Deni is literally one of players defending ISO possessions most in NBA - ~5th in whole league (2 per game, 22.6% FREQ). And he holds the opponent to just 31.6% FG% with just 5% of possessions ending in FTs which is well better than NBA average (69% percentile according to NBA.com) which is quite impressive for 2nd year player.

Even more impressive his versatility : it can be literally against any of the opposite team leaders - one possession on very quick 6'3" Ja Morant, and another on 6'11" 242 lb Jaren Jackson Jr.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/isolation/?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&TypeGrouping=defensive&sort=POSS_PCT&dir=1

[Kanyewest]

It makes sense why his defense is ahead of offense given how much the Wizards focused on defense in training camp and pre-season.

[closg00]

IMHO, given the "defensive" ticket - he makes extra effort in defense, leaving no energy for already problematic offense.
Thus directly hurting his statistics and the future of his NBA career.
At 20, he should be driving, shooting, missing, making TO's and trying "funny" stuff on offense.
His statistics would still look bad , but at least he'd be trying out moves and honing abilities.

The good D is appreciated, but I'm sure we could draft/sign someone who can deliver on offense as-well. Deni would thrive in Europe.
I do hope the coaches are trying to work on his offense behind the scenes.

[arusinov]

IMHO, given the "defensive" ticket - he makes extra effort in defense, leaving no energy for already problematic offense.
Thus directly hurting his statistics and the future of his NBA career.
At 20, he should be driving, shooting, missing, making TO's and trying "funny" stuff on offense.
His statistics would still look bad , but at least he'd be trying out moves and honing abilities.

The good D is appreciated, but I'm sure we could draft/sign someone who can deliver on offense as-well. Deni would thrive in Europe.
I do hope the coaches are trying to work on his offense behind the scenes.

Why would he go to Europe? Even if he never will be a star his defense, rebounding and high BBIQ may warrant him 10+ years NBA career

[WallToWall]

If he stays above average on the defensive side for the duration of the season, I’d be quite happy with that. He can spend the upcoming off-season to work on his go-to shot and perfect it.
Given the latest rule changes, defense is much more of a premium than last year. He is already ahead of the game.
Also, check his rebounding, his box out, and positioning for rebounds. This is much better than last year.

[badinage]

IMHO, given the "defensive" ticket - he makes extra effort in defense, leaving no energy for already problematic offense.
Thus directly hurting his statistics and the future of his NBA career.
At 20, he should be driving, shooting, missing, making TO's and trying "funny" stuff on offense.
His statistics would still look bad , but at least he'd be trying out moves and honing abilities.

The good D is appreciated, but I'm sure we could draft/sign someone who can deliver on offense as-well. Deni would thrive in Europe.

Jesus Christ.

[NatP4]

His shot just mechanical. He looks like he’s thinking too much when he shoots. Think he just needs more reps and a lot more playing time.

If you gave him a 30 minute/night 5 3PAs role, he would look great.

Volume is the word for Deni. You need to play guys that defend and rebound and move the ball like he does.

[arusinov]

IMHO, given the "defensive" ticket - he makes extra effort in defense, leaving no energy for already problematic offense.
Thus directly hurting his statistics and the future of his NBA career.
At 20, he should be driving, shooting, missing, making TO's and trying "funny" stuff on offense.
His statistics would still look bad , but at least he'd be trying out moves and honing abilities.

The good D is appreciated, but I'm sure we could draft/sign someone who can deliver on offense as-well. Deni would thrive in Europe.
I do hope the coaches are trying to work on his offense behind the scenes.

I love this "could draft someone better" sentiment and "but Halliburton and Saddiq Bey!" exclamation. Did those people look at the whole 4 - 10 pack? Hayes is truely horrible, Toppin and Okongwu are clearly worse than Deni, Okoro is more or less same as Deni, only PWill was marginally better but now he and Okongwu are both out several months and let's see how PWill will look first month after being back (and remember - Deni just returned after injury). Oh... And Jalen Smith just got his 3rd year option declined

And speaking about Halliburton - basically everyone knew that he'll be useful but noone thought he will be a star... and it's not like those opinions proved to be wrong

And concerning lower picks like Bey and Bane having success now... As Israeli fan I can remind you that their rookie year Omri Casspi had better stats than both DeRozan and Harden (and Jonny Flynn had better stats than all 3 and was out of the league in 3 years)

[closg00]

IMHO, given the "defensive" ticket - he makes extra effort in defense, leaving no energy for already problematic offense.
Thus directly hurting his statistics and the future of his NBA career.
At 20, he should be driving, shooting, missing, making TO's and trying "funny" stuff on offense.
His statistics would still look bad , but at least he'd be trying out moves and honing abilities.

The good D is appreciated, but I'm sure we could draft/sign someone who can deliver on offense as-well. Deni would thrive in Europe.
I do hope the coaches are trying to work on his offense behind the scenes.

I love this "could draft someone better" sentiment and "but Halliburton and Saddiq Bey!" exclamation. Did those people look at the whole 4 - 10 pack? Hayes is truely horrible, Toppin and Okongwu are clearly worse than Deni, Okoro is more or less same as Deni, only PWill was marginally better but now he and Okongwu are both out several months and let's see how PWill will look first month after being back (and remember - Deni just returned after injury). Oh... And Jalen Smith just got his 3rd year option declined

And speaking about Halliburton - basically everyone knew that he'll be useful but noone thought he will be a star... and it's not like those opinions proved to be wrong

And concerning lower picks like Bey and Bane having success now... As Israeli fan I can remind you that their rookie year Omri Casspi had better stats than both DeRozan and Harden (and Jonny Flynn had better stats than all 3 and was out of the league in 3 years)

Qualification!! When I say "we could draft someone better", I am referring to a future draft should Deni never catch-fire with his offense and we decide not to extend.

[payitforward]

...concerning lower picks like Bey and Bane having success now... As Israeli fan I can remind you that their rookie year Omri Casspi had better stats than both DeRozan and Harden (and Jonny Flynn had better stats than all 3 and was out of the league in 3 years)

Right about Casspi. Wrong about Jonny Flynn, who was absolutely horrible as a rookie -- taken #6. & if you're trying to argue that higher picks usually wind up better, that's just plain wrong. The guy taken #46 was better than at least 9 of the top 15 picks. For that matter, so were the guys taken #39, 42, 44 & 55.

As far as last year's draft, Bey & Bane aren't even the best examples: take a look at Kenyon Martin Jr. In fact, the best rookies last year were Haliburton (12), Tillman (35), Ball (3), Martin (52), Jae Sean Tate (undrafted in '18), Saben Lee (38), Facundo Campazzo (undrafted in 2013) & Peyton Pritchard (26). Not necessarily how it'll turn out long term, but it does tell a person something.

[gambitx777]

It's not fair to compare them. Kukoc was a special offensive player. Granted, he was a forward in the NBA, but he was regarded as the best PG in all of Europe when he was there. He had to play 3rd fiddle in Chicago, only because they had Jordan and Pippen.

I think it's fair. He was a good defender, as I recall. I was very young so maybe I'm missing some bits. But, in defence and passing ability they are very similar players. If deni can put a shot together I think they are very comparable .

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

They're really not at all comparable. Kukoc played at a dramatically higher level, and I'm saying that knowing Kukoc was not at all good defensively.

I don't remember him being that bad.... But I was like 7 lol

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

[Ruzious]

I think it's fair. He was a good defender, as I recall. I was very young so maybe I'm missing some bits. But, in defence and passing ability they are very similar players. If deni can put a shot together I think they are very comparable .

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

They're really not at all comparable. Kukoc played at a dramatically higher level, and I'm saying that knowing Kukoc was not at all good defensively.

I don't remember him being that bad.... But I was like 7 lol

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

I was older - then. Remember, he came from playing PG and being the best player in Europe to the Bulls, so he had to switch to PF - and he simply wasn't strong enough. At that time, NBA PF's were power players, and he'd get easily pushed around, But he was a brilliant offensive player. We're talking about the 5 time Euro Player of the Year.

[JWizmentality]

Saw an awesome nickname on a message board.

Welcome to the Denitentiary

[tontoz]

Deni must be stronger than he looks. Giannis loves to play bully ball, dropping his shoulder into guys to clear space/knock them off balance and then using his length to finish. Wasn't working too well against Deni.

[Illuminaire]

I just looked up his advanced defensive stats:

Opponents are shooting 36.2% against him.

3.8 makes out of 10.4 attempts per game.

In my book, that’s 6.6 possessions created. Add in the 5.1 rebounds per game, and you have a player who, in 21.3 minutes, is creating just under 12.7 possessions a game.

These are very impressive stats, and I agree with your main sentiment that he's doing very, very well on the defensive end of the floor.

I do want to point out that interpreting advanced stats the way you did here is not ideal. He's not creating possessions because a shot is missed. That's also not a particularly useful way of looking at defensive shot percentage.

A more functional way of assessing this would be to find the average opponent shooting percentage for his position, then to show how much better his defense is in relative comparison.

To put it another way, he's not 6.6 possessions better than the average forward just because he plays great defense. But he might be 1-2 better, which is still a substantial number. This long caveat brought to you by the committee for accurate analytics.

[doclinkin]

It makes sense why his defense is ahead of offense given how much the Wizards focused on defense in training camp and pre-season.

Also the new rules emphasis will significantly benefit Euro players. Euroball allows more clutching, grabbing, physical play. Rookies traditionally get blasted by refs for being too handsy, Euro rookies especially. Deni was no exception, but he learned the lesson quickly to defend better with his feet as well. His positioning and footwork is outstanding, you can tell he played soccer as his first sport. He swivels his hips to run with the motion and stay in front of his man. I love seeing opponents try to target him and not understand why they miss. He's not blocking shots or stealing the ball, they get a shot off, the shot is just far more likely to miss. His physicality is part of it. As to his defense against bigger players: he has been playing professional ball since he was a 16 year old kid. Players like Embiid may shove him around, but otherwise he is not going to see the same size mismatch that he had when he was a younger skinnier version of his scrappy self.

[doclinkin]

As to his offense. He doesn't need to shoot to have a positive effect on this end of the court. We saw that with the last shot of the Bucks game. We have catch and shoot players all over the court but they need that middleman to swing the ball to the right guy and keep the ball moving. We need a guy who moves to give a passing option when our playmakers are doubled. A facilitator who is a plus defender is a useful player. I expect his offense will improve, especially as the scouting reports say to leave him alone, he will get open shots. If he can knock them down then his confidence will follow. Until then he just needs to keep doing what he's doing.