Shots Fired at Blazers for Deni Avdija Trade

The young small forward was Portland's biggest non-rookie acquisition of the summer.

Apr 5, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija (8) drives to the basket as Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (00) defends in the second half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers' major non-draft transaction of the summer was its decision to acquire 6-foot-9 combo forward Deni Avdija from the Washington Wizards. The agreement appeared to be something of a marriage of asset convenience. Portland did want to get off the contract of 32-year-old veteran point guard Malcolm Brogdon, but it had expected to get draft value back. Instead, it gave picks to the Wizards. Avdija, the No. 9 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, has plus value as a switchable forward who can develop with Portland's youth movement. The team ditched its rights for the No. 14 pick this year, a 2029 first rounder, and two second round selections.

But should the Trail Blazers have held out for actual draft assets?

On their podcast" "Blazer Focused," The Oregonian's Aaron Fentress and Craig Birnbach unpacked the Avdija deal, zooming out to appraise what it cost Portland to acquire him. Yes, Avdija himself is an intriguing prospect, and at age 23 syncs up well with the timeline of the team's intended core trio of 21-year-old shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe, plus rookie center Donovan Clingan and second-year point guard Scoot Henderson — both 20. But the team offloaded the contract of 2023 Sixth Man of the Year Brogdon, for whom it expected to extract real value in the trade market, plus future draft equity just to swing the deal. It's surely not the result Portland wanted when it brought in Brogdon as part of its deal for Jrue Holiday last summer.

"Sure, you hope that you lucked into, maybe, a forward that's better than everyone else thought he was. Wouldn't be unheard of, right?" Birnbach said. In fairness, Avdija averaged a career-most 14.7 points on .506/.374/.740 shooting splits, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, plus 0.8 swipes and 0.5 rejections. He finished sixth in Most Improved Player voting.

"But you played a whole year to tank, and tried to trade, and what did you come back with?" Birnbach continued. "The seventh overall pick and a power forward-slash-small forward who you had to give up a guy that you thought you were gonna get two firsts for [Brogdon] — instead you give up firsts [to get off] that player because you're like, 'Well, I guess we're not getting what I thought we were.'"

Clingan was projected in several mock drafts to be selected higher than the No. 7 pick after two straight NCAA championship seasons for the University of Connecticut Huskies.

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