Deni Avdija’s Breakout Season Is Real - But the Trail Blazers Still Need Their Alpha
Deni Avdija has been nothing short of a revelation for the Portland Trail Blazers this season. In a year where injuries have thinned the roster and tested the team’s depth, Avdija has stepped up in a major way.
He’s not just surviving - he’s thriving, dragging Portland into the playoff picture with a level of play few saw coming. But as impressive as this run has been, it also raises a bigger question: what’s the ceiling for this version of the Blazers?
Let’s be clear - Avdija has played like a top-25 guy this season. That’s not hyperbole.
He’s taken a leap, and it’s been a big one. He’s scoring efficiently, defending at a high level, and showing the kind of versatility that every modern team covets.
For a team in the early stages of a rebuild, this kind of breakout is gold. It validates the trade that brought him to Portland and gives the front office a legitimate building block.
But here’s the rub: if Avdija is your best player, how far can you really go?
That’s not a knock on him - it’s just the reality of how the NBA works. Title teams almost always have that one transcendent star, the kind of player who can tilt a playoff series on their own.
Think Jayson Tatum in Boston, Luka Dončić in Dallas, or Nikola Jokić in Denver. Avdija’s game is polished and impactful, but he’s better suited as a high-level second option - a 1B, not a 1A.
Sam Vecenie recently likened Avdija to Jaylen Brown, which feels about right. Brown is a two-way force who can swing games, but the Celtics don’t go as far as they do without Tatum leading the charge.
That’s the dynamic Portland has to chase. The question is: who’s their Tatum?
Right now, there’s no obvious answer.
The Blazers are reportedly keeping an eye on the trade market ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline. Names like Jaren Jackson Jr. and Trey Murphy III have been floated, and while both are talented, neither profiles as the kind of top-10 superstar who can instantly elevate a franchise. That’s the challenge for Portland - they’re a small-market team without a history of landing marquee free agents, which makes the trade and draft routes all the more important.
And while the team is trending upward, that could actually complicate things. Their own draft picks are losing value as the roster improves, which means their best shot at landing a true franchise cornerstone might lie in the future picks they hold from the Milwaukee Bucks. With the Bucks’ core aging and their future uncertain, those picks - set to convey in 2028 and beyond - could be the swing pieces Portland needs to land a game-changer.
But that also means playing the long game.
Balancing patience with progress is never easy. The Blazers want to get back to the postseason, and Avdija’s emergence makes that a real possibility.
But if the goal is more than just a playoff berth - if the goal is to contend - then they’ll need to find that top-tier talent to pair with him. Until then, Avdija can keep carrying the load, but the front office has to keep its eyes on the bigger picture.
Because while Deni Avdija is proving he belongs in the league’s upper tier, the Blazers still need their Batman.