"Deni Avdija, in his sixth NBA season and second with the Portland Trail Blazers, is suddenly a monster. Sunday night he put up a crazy triple-double against the invulnerable Oklahoma City Thunder, in an encouragingly narrow and competitive home loss for the Blazers. Avdija scored 31 points on just 14 shots, pulled down 19 rebounds, dished 10 assists against just a single turnover, and finished plus-four in 37 minutes of floor-time."
"He's tall and long, and fast and strong, and after a couple of wasted seasons playing glorified spectator around that abominable franchise's trumped-up alpha dogs, Avdija realized that if he gets the ball at one end of the court-say, if he grabs a defensive rebound-and just immediately tears ass toward the other end, good things will happen often enough that no one will yell at him for trying."
"As is the case with lots of other fast young guys, eventually Avdija picked up some counters, little secondary ways of broadening the advantages that come from being faster in a straight line than other people his size. Now he's got moves on moves, and has become something of an offense unto himself: Per Cleaning The Glass, the Blazers are a whopping 16 points better per 100 possessions with Avdija on the floor, which ranks in"
Deni Avdija is in his sixth NBA season and second with the Portland Trail Blazers. He recorded a triple-double: 31 points on 14 shots, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, one turnover, plus-four in 37 minutes. He has topped 25 points in 12 of 20 games, six double-doubles, multiple triple-doubles, leads the Blazers in scoring, ranks near top in usage, rebounds, assists, and blocks, and posts a 62-percent true shooting. He transformed by attacking in transition, developed counters, and now boosts Portland's net rating by 16 points per 100 possessions. His efficiency and versatility have made him a go-to offensive creator.
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