The Washington Wizards have been very active on the trade market over the last couple of years as they continue to build towards the future.
Washington made a flurry of moves ahead of the NBA trade deadline this season to bring in multiple new veterans in Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart. A sign of just how devoted the teams front office is to surround their young team with experienced vets to learn from moving forward in their rebuild.
However, before they made the move to land multiple veterans at the deadline, the Wizards made their intentions clear leading up to the season when they traded a former lottery pick in Deni Avdija to the Portland Trail Blazers on draft night in exchange for Malcolm Brogdon.
Avdija spent four seasons in Washington, where he improved each year. In his final season with the Wizards, the former No. 9 overall pick averaged 14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 75 starts for Washington. Despite that, the team still didn't see enough promise in the forward to keep him in D.C. long-term.
As a result, the Wizards dealt Avdija to Portland in exchange for not just Brogdon, but the No. 14 overall pick in last year's NBA Draft, which ultimately turned into Bub Carrington.
Avdija opens up about trade from WAS
For the first time since the shocking trade, Avdija has finally opened up about his trade out of Washington in a recent interview with The Athletic's Josh Robbins:
"It was nighttime at my place (in Israel), and I woke up. I saw I got traded, and it was very hard for me. All the friendships that I had with the guys there, the city, the fans - it all just disappeared in a second. But everything's for the good. I feel like I found a nice home in Portland"
Avdija even took the time to take the high road about the Wizards decision to move on from him"
"I can only control how I play, how I practice, how I prepare myself for the season. If people wanted to trade me, it's above my paycheck, you know what I'm saying? I don't control it. I just do whatever I can to win games. That's about it.
However, Avdija may very well be speaking the truth because he has put his head down and continued to work and it's shown on the court. The 24-year-old is averaging a career-high 15.3 points to pair with 6.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists this season.
Although his time in Washington was short, the versatile wing seems poised to have a long NBA career, especially if he continues to play at this level.