The Portland Trail Blazers were initially criticized for their surprising Deni Avdija trade with the Washington Wizards. Now in his second season with Portland, Avdija has ascended to genuine All-Star status. What many deemed to be an overpay in retrospect was an absolute fleece by Portland's front office.
ESPN NBA insiders (Tim Bontemps, Zach Kram, Bobby Marks, Kevin Pelton, and Jeremy Woo) recently released their 25 under 25 rankings, which list young NBA stars with the brightest futures. Avdija came in at No. 15, in between San Antonio's Stephon Castle (16) and Detroit's Jalen Duren (14). Quite the improvement for someone who wasn't even ranked in last year's version.
"When Portland acquired Avdija from Washington during the 2024 draft, it was seen by many across the NBA as an overpay. However, Avdija has rewarded that faith with a strong case to make his first All-Star team this season. He's also arguably the leading candidate for Most Improved Player behind a leap in points per game (25.8, up from 16.9) while maintaining his efficiency," Bontemps wrote.
Blazers clearly won the Deni Avdija trade
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Avdija is the leading candidate for Most Improved Player at +220 odds, ahead of Duren (+425) and Austin Reaves (+450). He was a strong candidate heading into the season; the Blazers actually had multiple candidates in the top ten odds, as it made sense for someone to step up in their increased offensive role following the key departures of Anfernee Simons and Deandre Ayton. Avdija has officially taken the keys to the Blazers' offense and is the only thing keeping them afloat during their recent string of unfortunate injuries.
The thing is, Avdija is an even more valuable asset than the No. 15 ranking suggests, given that he has one of the best contracts in the association. He's quickly become the foundational piece in Portland. And, as Bontemps notes, with his well-rounded game, he doesn't even have much to improve on! This has just been a relatively small sample size. He has to maintain this level of play to be considered a legitimate star.
"He just has to do this again next season. Avdija already looks like a foundational performer for the Blazers. If he can continue this production and carry it over to next season, he'll have fully ascended to a star-level wing."
It was an unconventional approach for the rebuilding Blazers to include valuable draft capital to land a more established player. But you can have all the picks in the world, it's still somewhat of a crapshoot in terms of hitting on both the lottery and the selection itself.
With Avdija, the Blazers landed the best player on their entire roster. Given his perfect fit for their rebuilding timeline and team-friendly contract, it's safe to say the narrative of this trade has quickly flipped in Portland's favor.