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Editor\u2019s Note: Read more NBA coverage from Yahoo Sports here<\/a>. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n If you want to know what\u00a0Deni Avdija\u00a0is really like \u2014 or, rather, how over the span of 19 months he was able to transform from a maybe, possibly good starter into an All-Star \u2014 then the following story, courtesy of\u00a0Portland Trail Blazers\u00a0head of player development Gilbert Abraham, is the best one you\u2019ll hear. It\u2019s an example of how a player\u2019s wiring can sometimes matter more than his skills.<\/p>\n It was the second day of January, and the Blazers were in New Orleans trying to protect a double-digit lead over the Pelicans. With just under four minutes remaining, Avdija tossed a lazy ball to the top of the key that was nearly stolen. The next possession, facing some soft full-court pressure, Avdija threw an even weaker pass. This time it was picked off, with Zion Williamson blowing by Avdija for a layup. Avdija dropped his head. Furious, Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter called a timeout.<\/p>\n Back on the Blazers\u2019 bench, Abraham told Avdija \u2014 in what he describes as \u201ccolorful language\u201d \u2014 that his effort wasn\u2019t good enough. Avdija pushed back. To prove his point, Abraham took out an iPad and cued up the film. Avdija sat in silence, then walked back onto the court.<\/p>\n In the locker room after the game, a 122-109 Blazers win, Avdija pulled Abraham aside.<\/p>\n \u201cHe hugged me and said, \u2018Thanks for coaching me,\u2019\u201d Abraham recalled. He added: \u201cIn my experience, most players don\u2019t allow coaches to coach them as hard as we coach Deni. And he doesn\u2019t just accept it. He wants it.\u201d<\/p>\n Growing up in Israel, shooting on a bedroom mini hoop emblazoned with an NBA All-Star Weekend 2015 logo, Avdija dreamed of one day suiting up in that game himself. It took longer than expected, but on Sunday,\u00a0Avdija was named a reserve on the Western Conference All-Star team, finally fulfilling that dream, becoming the first Israeli ever to earn the honor and capping a breakout few saw coming.<\/p>\n After all, it was less than two years ago that Avdija, despite being just 23 years old, was shipped off in a deal most experts considered a clear win for his former team. Yet here he is now, an All-Star putting up\u00a0All-NBA-level numbers\u00a0\u2014 25.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game \u2014 and carrying a Blazers team that, according to the website\u00a0Cleaning the Glass, without him would be languishing in the league\u2019s cellar instead of hovering around .500 and chasing a Western Conference play-in spot.<\/p>\n The question, then, is what sparked this breakout? Was it a new system? A new role? A simple change of scenery?<\/p>\n Ask Avdija and he\u2019ll tell you that all of that has played a part. But the true catalyst, he insists, is something deeper.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe in myself more than ever before,\u201d Avdija told Yahoo Sports recently, \u201cand, because of that, I\u2019m able to play more free.\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019d never know it now, watching him barrel his way to the rim and take over in crunch time, but there was a point not that long ago where Avdija was wrestling with feelings of doubt. He\u2019d entered the NBA as a hyped lottery pick, someone whom the Washington Wizards were giddy to grab at No. 9 in the 2020 draft. Avdija was just 19 at the time and knew adjusting to life in the NBA would be hard. Still, he figured that within a few years he\u2019d have things mostly figured out.<\/p>\n Reality, though, proved to be more difficult. He\u2019d landed on a Wizards team with playoff expectations. That meant a short leash. (It also meant adjusting to life alongside Russell Westbrook, a star\u00a0known for demanding a lot from his rookies<\/a>\u00a0even when away from the court. \u201cAt, like, 10 p.m. before we\u2019d go on a road trip, he\u2019d text me a list of snacks he wanted, but they were crazy snacks that were impossible to find,\u201d Avdija said with a laugh. \u201cLike, Wavy Lay\u2019s barbecue chips. No places carry Wavy, they just have flat ones.\u201d) Avdija\u2019s confidence waned. The looseness with which he had played in Israel \u2014 and the aggression which had allowed him to thrive \u2014 had disappeared. He\u2019d miss a layup and stop attacking. He\u2019d miss a 3 and stop shooting. Wizards personnel point to a December 2022 loss when the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 gameplan was to leave Avdija open from the perimeter and dare him to shoot. Avdija misfired on seven of his eight attempts and turned down numerous more.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of times you could see him become deflated,\u201d said Wes Unseld Jr., Avdija\u2019s head coach for three seasons in Washington. \u201cHe always held himself to such a high standard and, when he felt like he was falling short of that, he would let it affect him and compound.\u201d<\/p>\n Three years into his NBA career, it looked like he had hit a wall. He couldn\u2019t crack a double-digit scoring average. His shooting had regressed, with his 3-point percentage dropping below 30%. He was a good and eager defender, and a weapon in transition \u2014 especially when he could grab a rebound and go \u2014 but that wasn\u2019t the future that scouts had envisioned years earlier during EuroLeague games when they saw Avdija, as a skinny teenager, running circles around grown men. It certainly wasn\u2019t the future he had envisioned for himself.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like, \u2018Do I really belong here? Am I really going to be the basketball player I think I can become?\u2019\u201d Avdija said. \u201cThe NBA is so hard and up and down, it\u2019s very easy for a young guy to get sucked into those thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n In October 2023, the Wizards, under new management and looking to tear things down, offered Avdija a four-year, $55 million extension, the going rate for an average role player. The goal was to lock him into a team-friendly figure that could be easily slotted into a future trade. For Avdija, though, the contract did something else. \u201cIt made me feel like I had less worries,\u201d he said. He also refined his shooting stroke \u2014 his 3-point percentage jumped to 37.4 \u2014 which provided room for the rest of his skills to flourish. He averaged career highs that season (14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game), making it the perfect time for the Wizards to flip him. On draft night in 2024, they traded Avdija to the Trail Blazers for a package that included two first-round picks.<\/p>\n Michael Winger\u2019s full response when asked if trading Deni Avdija was a mistake:<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it was not a mistake. We\u2019re all very happy for Deni. We saw Deni as a very high-level ascending player\u2026but no, we did it for the reasons we said then which was to take us back a couple of\u2026\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/IsCWJARE6w<\/a><\/p>\n Sitting with his parents in their apartment in Israel, where he was spending the summer, Avdija let the news of the trade wash over him. He was sad his time in Washington and with the Wizards was coming to an end. But what stood out most was how much the Blazers had given up.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s a lot,\u201d Avdija said. \u201cAnd seeing that, it was like, \u2018They really believe in me, they really want me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n When Avdija reported to training camp a few months later, Blazers coaches and officials saw a different player than the one they had scouted in D.C. \u201cIt was clear right away that he was the best in the gym,\u201d said Chris Fleming, a longtime NBA assistant who spent the 2024-25 season in Portland. But Avdija, still acclimating to his new surroundings, struggled once the games began. \u201cI\u2019m someone who gets very close to people, especially teammates and coaches,\u201d Avdija said. \u201cHaving new ones and moving to a new city on the other side of America \u2014 it was tough.\u201d Old habits resurfaced. \u201cHe\u2019d make a mistake and be very hard on himself,\u201d Fleming recalled.<\/p>\n As the year progressed, Portland began playing faster and adjusting rotations and offensive schemes. Little by little, Avdija grew more comfortable and confident with the ball in his hands. He played like an All-Star over the 2024-25 season\u2019s final 20 games (23.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists) and returned the following summer ready to make one more leap.<\/p>\n When Jrue Holiday, Portland\u2019s starting point guard, went down with a calf strain less than one month into the 2025-26 season \u2014 joining former No. 3 pick and fellow point guard Scoot Henderson, out since the summer with a hamstring injury \u2014 Splitter, who had taken over for the suspended Chauncey Billups in October, pulled Avdija aside. Since joining the staff in the summer, he and Avdija had talked about the first time Splitter had seen him play, around eight years earlier, when Splitter was a scout for the Brooklyn Nets watching EuroLeague games in Spain. Avdija at the time was a member of Maccabi Tel-Aviv, playing point guard, and now Splitter wanted to know if Avdija was comfortable doing so again.<\/p>\n Avdija, no longer harboring any doubts, didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n Coach, he told Splitter,\u00a0you know I can. You saw me do it when I was 18.<\/p>\n Deni Avdija\u2019s mini hoop with an NBA All-Star logo on it.<\/p>\n The confidence the Blazers have shown in Avdija has created a snowball effect. The more they believe in him, the more he believes in himself, the better he plays, which makes the Blazers believe in him even more, and round and round it goes.<\/p>\n \u201cMy opinion matters now,\u201d Avdija said.<\/p>\n Feeling empowered, Avdija\u2019s become a battering ram. He\u00a0leads the league<\/a>\u00a0in drives, attacking the paint like a halfback charging through the line of scrimmage. And yet, despite defenses knowing what\u2019s coming \u2014 for example, 90% of Avdija\u2019s drives are to his right \u2014 opponents have had no answers. Only Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have taken more free throws than Avdija, and the 1.1 points per possession the Blazers generate on his drives rank in the 72nd percentile.<\/p>\n At 6-foot-8 and close to 230 pounds, Avdija is nearly as big as some of the league\u2019s rim protectors. He\u2019s stronger than many of them, too, with the Blazers\u2019 medical staff marveling at the force he\u2019s able to generate through his legs and core.\u00a0Some opponents<\/a>\u00a0have accused Avdija of foul baiting, but Blazers coaches believe that what separates Avdija from other downhill specialists is his ability to marry brute force with a cerebral approach.<\/p>\n Take his James Harden-style rip-through that he\u2019s perfected, a move that\u2019s become one of the league\u2019s most effective weapons. Avdija first began experimenting with it two years ago during practice. It felt good, and, like a scientist, he spent hours refining it. The footwork, the angles, how and when to extend the ball, how and when to pull it back.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to think about these things from the mental side,\u201d he said. \u201cSo what\u2019s hard for defenders? To ignore their instincts. And if you hold the ball out, your initial reaction is that you want to go grab the ball. It\u2019s tempting.\u201d Avdija said that, when driving, he\u2019ll watch for the exact moment defenders reach out. \u201cI know the patterns. And that\u2019s when I extend my arms.\u201d All the while, Avdija\u2019s reading the floor and processing the positions of the other nine players on the floor.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a brilliance to him in his ability to process things,\u201d Abraham said.<\/p>\n The proof is in the numbers. Avdija dishes out of his drives\u00a0nearly 50% of the time<\/a>, one of the league\u2019s top marks, and a nearly seven-point jump from last season. He\u2019s\u00a0among the league leaders\u00a0in points generated off assists. In other words, as defenses collapse on him, Avdija has turned that attention into opportunities for everyone else.<\/p>\n Avdija knows there\u2019s still more room to improve. He turns the ball over too much. He can struggle scoring on those rare occasions when opponents are able to keep their hands off him or when officials swallow their whistles. \u201cI just need to add a couple of counters,\u201d he said. He\u2019s become a knockdown 3-pointer shooter on spot-ups (40.7%) but puts up bricks when launching off the dribble (26.9%), meaning defenders can duck under screens and direct all their attention to walling off his drives. He\u2019s also discovering how hard life can be as the No. 1 option.<\/p>\n \u201cOh my God, when I have the ball at the top of the key now, they\u2019re collapsing like crazy and throwing all sorts of traps at me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s so different.\u201d A recent focus among opponents has been forcing Avdija to his weaker side, though without much success. \u201cYou can try to stop me from going right, but it\u2019s going to be very hard,\u201d he said. \u201cI use a lot of rejects (of the screens). Sometimes, you know, the big guys are screening and for me to go left, and I snake up to my right.\u201d<\/p>\n But Avdija\u2019s relishing the perks that come with stardom, too, and not just because it means future riches. He loves being in a position where he can shape his team\u2019s culture, whether it\u2019s by organizing dinners on the road,\u00a0gifting all his teammates mini fridges for Christmas<\/a>, or learning Mandarin so he can communicate with the Blazers\u2019 Chinese rookie, Yang Hansen.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that stuff\u2019s really important,\u201d Avdija said. \u201cThe NBA can be a brutal place, switching teammates every year, changing teams, things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n The difference now is that, for the first time in his career, Avdija feels in control. The need to prove himself has dissipated. He\u2019s at ease with who he is and comfortable with the player he\u2019s become. Speaking a few weeks before the All-Star reserves were announced, you could hear it in his response when asked what it would mean to receive that honor.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would obviously be a dream come true, but at the end of the day, there are a lot of great players that are not All-Stars,\u201d Avdija said. \u201cSo, yeah, it would be nice to have that crown, but I\u2019m not playing for that stuff. My goal is just to continue being me.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2255984179-784x441.jpg\")
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