Washington Wizards 2020 NBA Draft: Deni Avdija profile

Deni Avdija: Weaknesses

While the post-championship free throws story is an inspiring one, there’s a good reason Avidja was working on his foul shots. Despite being an efficient scorer below the three-point line, Avdija struggles mightily from the foul line. During his MVP season in the Israeli Premier League, he shot 58 percent from the line. In the EuroLeague, he didn’t do much better; 56.6 percent.

Such poor shooting numbers aren’t encouraging, especially when coupled with Avdija’s inability to hit the three-point shot consistently. In the EuroLeague, Avdija shot just 27 percent from three, averaging fewer than one made three-pointer each game.

To his credit, Avdija does seem to have improved his three-point shot. After the Israeli Premier League season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Avdija took the new-found time off to work on his outside shot.

When he came back to the court, he shot an impressive 42 percent from outside over the team’s final 12 games. Better, for sure, but it’s a small sample size. Is his shot really “fixed” or did he have a hot streak? He did shoot 25 percent or less from three in four of those 12 games.

But can Avdija do this against NBA competition? Yes, he dominated in the Israeli Premier League, but the few former NBA players that he shared the court with aren’t in the NBA anymore for a reason. And when Avdija had to play against stiffer competition in the EuroLeague, he was much less impactful.

Avdija finished the 2019-20 EuroLeague season averaging just 4.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 14.3 minutes.