The San Antonio Spurs have forced Deni Avdija to the left throughout the playoff series, exposing a flaw in his skillset that he'll eventually need to address.
Avdija is having a career year that resulted in his first All-Star appearance, but questions remain about whether he can be the true go-to option on a contending team. He'll need to continue building on this momentum, and improving that left hand this summer would go a long way in continuing that upward trajectory.
Playoff blueprint for containing Deni Avdija is out
Thanks to his rare combination of speed, ball-handling, finishing, and positional size, Avdija has evolved into a jumbo guard for Portland. Some of that was out of necessity, considering the number of injuries Portland's backcourt has suffered throughout this season. Some of that was by design, as Portland has done a good job of embracing the growing pains -- particularly the turnovers -- that have come with Avdija taking on this new role as a primary offensive initiator.
His well-rounded game is already difficult to gameplan against. But one concern about his style of play was his heavy reliance on getting to the charity stripe to score. Would that translate when the physicality picks up in the postseason?
Portland didn't have that answer, which was yet another reason why this postseason has been more than worthwhile despite the likely early exit. They now have more clarity regarding their young core and know that Avdija's game does, in fact, translate to the postseason.
He may not be the superstar piece they still lack. Still, Avdija has averaged 22.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game on 44/43/75 shooting splits, going up against an elite Spurs defense anchored by the Defensive Player of the Year, Victor Wembanyama. He's still getting it done as a three-level scorer and hasn't even taken a drastic dip in his free-throw rate, attempting 9.0 per game -- tied for fifth in the postseason.
This was a beneficial feel-out series for Portland's young core. In the postseason, you can't hide your flaws as teams have an entire series to gameplan against you and expose those weaknesses. We're seeing that with Donovan Clingan getting played off the court due to his drop coverage and lack of lateral mobility.
We're also seeing that with San Antonio constantly forcing Avdija left.
The Spurs are a premier organization and deserve credit for identifying these weaknesses and executing the game plan. But the NBA is also a copycat league, meaning the playoff blueprint to relatively contain Avdija is officially out.
At just 25 years old, he still has plenty of time to figure out how to counter this and even improve his game to the point where it's no longer a weakness. However, since he's suddenly become a star, it's gotten to the point where we have to nitpick what has otherwise been a well-rounded game and successful season for Avdija.
Part of that star ascension comes with the territory of your game being put under a spotlight. For Avdija, that's exposed his lack of a left hand. And it's something he'll need to address sooner rather than later, considering how heavily Portland relies on him to make up for their lack of star power.
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