Last summer, the Portland Trail Blazers surprisingly agreed to trade Malcolm Brogdon, the No. 14 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft (turned into Bub Carrington), a 2029 first-round pick (second-most favorable from Portland), and two second-round picks (2028 and 2030) in exchange for rising star Deni Avdija.
That trade took the league by storm -- it was anticipated that a rebuilding Blazers team would move on from Brogdon in order to get under the luxury tax, but the expectation was that Portland would prioritize draft capital. The fact that they attached valuable draft picks along with Brogdon just goes to show how confident general manager Joe Cronin and Co. were in targeting Avdija.
Blazers clearly stole Deni Avdija from the Wizards
Back in 2020, Blazers assistant general manager Mike Schmitz was a draft analyst for ESPN. One of his articles, which aged extremely well and has played a role in Portland's rebuilding success, was titled, "Deni Avdija belongs in the top tier of the 2020 NBA draft."
Avdija ultimately wound up as the No. 9 overall selection to the Washington Wizards that year, but, in retrospect, Schmitz was right: he should have gone much higher.
In a 2020 class re-draft, Avdija arguably would've gone fifth or sixth behind Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Maxey, and possibly Desmond Bane. The fact that Avdija is already considered in that tier of what is shaping out to be a strong draft class just goes to show that Portland landed a true building block for their rebuild -- a piece that hasn't been apparent as top ten picks Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe have yet to put together consistent seasons despite their talent and potential.
Deni Avdija gives Blazers a true building block
The line between who Portland's true core pieces should be considered as has only gotten blurrier through their offseason acquisitions of Yang Hansen, Jrue Holiday, and Damian Lillard. Now, their only two true building blocks to make it through the offseason unscaffed are Avdija and Toumani Camara -- versatile wings that the Blazers and Cronin managed to acquire at a discount. They have not only fit Portland's needs and timeline incredibly well, but they have also catalyzed their newfound defensive identity.
The Blazers have fully committed to this roster with Avdija as the primary offensive initiator after essentially swapping DeAndre Ayton and Anfernee Simons for Yang Hansen and Jrue Holiday. They'll be better off in the long run because of it, but it was Avdija who gave them the confidence to make this aggresive roster shift.
In his first year with the Blazers, Deni averaged 16.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.0 steals on 48/37/78 shooting splits. He showed enough promise as a point forward, particularly towards the end of the season, for Portland to continue investing in him as a lead offensive initiator.
Given his age, improving play, and team-friendly contract, it's clear the Blazers landed a steal with their stunning Avdija trade. With only three years remaining of this incredibly team-friendly contract that's arguably the best in the association, the next step for the Blazers is to capitalize on this by making key roster additions.
Cronin somewhat did that with the heartwarming signing of Lillard, but at the same time, Portland is also negating any financial advantage they would have due to the contracts of Jerami Grant and Jrue Holiday.
In other words, it's great that they clearly won the trade for Avdija. However, the next step in the rebuild process is to take advantage of the financial flexibility Deni's team-friendly contract provides in the coming seasons.
If Cronin isn't able to build a contender while Avdija is under contract, it's largely going to defeat the purpose, especially since the Blazers will need to extend several players currently on their rookie-scale deals.