Deni Avdija has officially turned a corner with his new team and has been far and away the Portland Trail Blazers' best player lately. But this isn't a hot streak that Avdija has been on -- it's just who he is now. Sure, the red-hot 45.7 percent three-point shooting from March is bound to regress. But so much of Avdija's game that makes him successful is sustainable.
You can't take away his speed and agility, which, when paired with a 6-foot-9, 240-pound frame, is a nightmare for opposing teams. Avdija is one of the NBA's elite when it comes to "bully ball" with his ability to utilize his physicality and attack downhill.
Deni Avdija is using Giannis' blueprint of downhill dominance
Ben Taylor, author of Thinking Basketball, had a video, "Giannis spawned an era of disciples," where he covers in detail how Giannis revolutionized the playstyle of physical bigs that can attack downhill. One of the 'disciples' is none other than Avdija.
"Another new downhill protégé this year is Portland's fifth-year man Deni Avdija, who is aptly named 'Turbo' because he blasts into space like he dropped a nitro boost. Avdija is listed at 6-foot-9, 240 pounds, so he has freakish straight-line speed with such a powerful build," said Taylor
Avdija has yet to make an All-Star appearance and still has a long way to go before being in the same realm as Giannis. But there are striking similarities in terms of playstyle. His unique skillset as a ballhandler, playmaker, and crafty finisher is what makes him so effective and truly separates guys like him and Giannis from the rest of the league.
Taylor breaks this down more in-depth:
"He's particularly tantalizing because he can pass pretty well at these high speeds. That makes the inverted pick-and-roll game with a guard much harder to defend. And it bodes very well for playing with all kinds of cutters and finishers, along with good shooters."
The Blazers already have enough cutters and finishers to make this work between the high-flying Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara, who has improved that aspect of his game.
Chauncey Billups has finally made Avdija the focal point of the offense, and it's been paying dividends. The next step in maximizing his rare talent is to add more shooting to complement his style of play.
The Blazers finished dead last in three-point percentage last year (34.5) and are in the bottom five this year (34.6). If they can find a way to surround Avdija with more shooting, it's going to open up the entire Blazers offense.