Israeli NBA player Deni Avdija was introduced to his new team, the Portland Trail Blazers. The 23-year-old forward arrived at his new training facility for the first time on Monday, met with the team’s management, and spoke to the media for the first time since being traded from the Washington Wizards.
Avdija says he was surprised by the trade. "It was shocking. It took me time to embrace it, but now that I’m over it, I feel like I’m in a great spot, and I’m very happy,” he told reporters.
Avdija described his playing style as "team friendly," and added: “I want to do the best I can to make them be better on the court. Just hardnosed, just trying to come do his job and win games, that’s it.”
Avdija provides something the Blazers desperately need with his outside shooting, where he ranked 20th among all small forwards. Last season, he improved his three-point percentage from 29% to 37%. "I really worked on the mental aspect of shooting and realized I’m a good shooter, and I worked the whole summer focusing on shooting and making sure I’m confident in it," he said.
At a time when players miss games for even small reasons, Avdija takes pride in his ability to play for nearly a full season (75 out of 82 games). "I’m in the gym every day, in the weight room, in the treatment room - trying to adjust my body," he said. "It's really important to me. I want to be there for the team in every possible game."
Avdija and the Wizards only won 15 games last season, marking the second-worst record in the NBA. Now he joins the Blazers, who are in a similar position (21 wins and last place in the West), but he doesn’t let that affect him.
"Don’t look at the record, just come and play as hard as you can and compete to win," Avdija said. "Even though we didn’t win much last year, it was a great time for our team, a great time for me, and I’m trying to pass on that culture here as well."
Avdija played in Washington for four seasons after being selected ninth overall in the 2020 NBA draft. He experienced a breakout year last season with averages of 14.7 points (50% from the field and 37% from three) and 7.2 rebounds.