The Portland Trail Blazers have a plethora of talented players to try and fit into a starting lineup. The idea that their solution could ever be sending Deni Avdija to the bench is inexplicable and came as a gut punch to Avdija and the fan base on Wednesday night.
There is no denying that head coach Chauncey Billups has his work cut out for him navigating his decisions regarding the starting lineup and the rotation for this season. Last year's team found its path forward with a defensive identity, increasing the role of rookie center Donovan Clingan and inserting All-Defense wing Toumani Camara into the starting lineup.
Portland had the league's 5th-best defensive rating over the last 40 games of last season, and if you shift the sample they could come out as high as No. 2. What they put together absolutely worked defensively. The difficulty in building such defense-minded lineups is that you need someone to carry them offensively -- and that fell on the shoulders of Deni Avdija.
The young forward had a true breakout season last year, was inarguably the team's best player and improved across the board. He was more confident shooting the basketball, was stronger absorbing contact inside to finish and draw fouls, and his passing took a significant uptick. Check out this line from a late-season game against the Denver Nuggets: 36 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block.
Heading into this season, the Blazers want to continue to momentum of last year. Out went Anfernee Simons and Deandre Ayton, and in came Jrue Holiday, but the rest of the roster is the same. Yet with veterans like Holiday and Jerami Grant expecting to start, and a young core who flourished together last season ready to go, how would Billups put everything together?
There were a number of options tossed around. Moving Camara to the bench in favor of Holiday who could replicate much of his role as an on-ball stopper and off-ball destroyer. Benching Jerami Grant because he's the worst player of the group. Going big and bringing both Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson off of the bench.
Amidst all of the options, bringing Avdija off of the bench seemed inexplicable. He was their best player last season! He looked like he would be again this year. His value to the team and to the starting lineup was unquestioned.
Deni Avdija was forced onto the bench
And yet, as the Trail Blazers began their preseason slate of games in Sa Francisco to play the Golden State Warriors, Avdija's name was nowhere to be found among the starting lineup. There was Jrue Holiday and Shaedon Sharpe in the backcourt, and Jerami Grant and Toumani Camara alongside Donovan Clingan in the frontcourt. No Avdija.
Avdija came in off the bench and played 20 minutes, essentially the same as Camara and Grant and more than Holiday. And Billups made it clear that the team would be trying out different combinations over the course of the preseason. Yet it was clear to the entire team that this was being tried out as a potential option, and that had to have been the most brutal of gut punches for Avdija.
To his credit, Avdija responded by clobbering the Warriors, dropping 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists in just 20 minutes. He and Sharpe were clearly the two best Blazers on Wednesday night, and that should translate into a trip back into the starting lineup for Avdija.
Yet the possibility remains that it might not. And for Billups and the Blazers to ever conclude that their best player belonged on the bench was ludicrous.