NBA: Israel’s Avdija traded from DC to Portland
After first four seasons with Wizards, 23-year-old forward on the move to revamped Trail Blazers
Deni Avdija was traded on NBA Draft night from the Washington Wizards to the Portland Trail Blazers, reported ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski.
The 23-year-old Israeli forward was shipped out west for Malcolm Brogdon, the draft’s 14th selection, Carlton Carrington, and the second most favorable of Portland’s 2029 first-round picks and two second-round picks in 2028 and 2030.
Avdija, who is entering his fifth season in the world’s greatest league, had played the first four years of his career in the District of Columbia after the Wizards had selected him ninth overall in the 2020 Draft.
Up-and-coming new team
The 6-foot-9 Avdija played and started in all of the 75 games he featured with Washington this past season and averaged 14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 37.4% from beyond the arc. The season saw Avdija’s scoring prowess improve drastically as he dropped 9.2 points per game and shot under 30% from downtown in the 2022/23 season. Due to his scoring jump and other growing aspects to his game, Avdija finished sixth in the final voting results for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. He has career averages of 9.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 287 games (155 starts).
In February, Avdija scored 43 points in a contest against the New Orleans Pelicans, making him the highest single-game scoring Israeli player in the NBA, smashing the previous high of 36 by Omri Casspi.
The Trail Blazers are in the midst of a rapid rebuild after the Damian Lillard era ended this past year with a 21-61 record. But the Sabra wing will join a very young up-and-coming core in Portland. Twenty-year old point guard Scoot Henderson leads the way after being selected third overall in last year’s draft, 21-year-old guard Shaedon Sharpe who was selected seventh in the 2022 draft, 25-year-old guard Anfernee Simons, and the 2018 first overall draft pick 25-year-old center Deandre Ayton. The Trail Blazers also selected UConn center Donovan Clingan with the seventh pick in this year’s entry draft.
Avdija, who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv between 2017-2000, was a three-time Israeli League champion while also earning the 2020 MVP award. The Israeli also starred for the National Team, helping it win gold at the Under-20 European Championships in back-to-back years of 2018 and 2019.
Last offseason, it was reported that the Israeli had inked a four-year, $55 million extension that is set to expire after the 2027/28 season and will be due $15.63 million this upcoming year, but the salary amount decreases each sequential year and Avdija will take home about $11.88 million in the last year of the deal.
Brogdon, 31, is on an expiring $22.5 million contract next season and averaged 15.7 points and 5.5 assists in 39 games for the Blazers this past season.
While both sides have agreed to the deal and it has been reported on the league’s official website, it technically can’t go through until July 6.
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