A new look is taking shape in Portland, and Deni Avdija sits right in the middle of it.
The Trail Blazers enter the month with a new owner, a new coach, a high-profile trade addition and a different set of expectations after finishing seventh in the Western Conference and reaching the playoffs for the first time in five years. Media day is set for September 28, and the club is rolling out a daily look at the roster as training camp gets closer.
Avdija is next in line.
At 6-foot-8 and 228 pounds, the 25-year-old forward is heading into his seventh NBA season. He is entering the third year of a four-year contract and will make roughly $13.1 million this season. Portland expects him to start.
What made Avdija such a central figure in the Blazers’ surprise rise last season was his leap into All-Star territory. He posted career-best numbers in scoring, assists and three-pointers made, with 125, and finished 14th in the NBA in scoring and 12th in assists.
He was one of only three players in the league to average at least 24.0 points, six rebounds and six assists, joining Nikola Jokic and Luka Dončić. That season earned him his first All-Star Game appearance and had Blazermaniacs chanting “MVP” in his direction.
But the breakout came with a wrinkle. Portland spent about two months without a natural point guard because of injuries, and Avdija had to shoulder more of the ballhandling and playmaking load as a point-forward.
Now the setup is different. The Blazers have added Damian Lillard and Ja Morant to a group that already includes Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson, which raises the obvious question of where Avdija fits in the pecking order when it comes to creation and facilitation. It’s a good problem, but it is still a problem first-year coach Micah Nori has to sort through.
The Blazers believe the answer will come from talent and chemistry. Avdija is a smart, selfless player.
Lillard and Holiday are seasoned veterans who know how to work beside other stars. Morant, meanwhile, is looking to get his career back on track after three forgettable seasons.
That’s the storyline worth watching as Portland moves into the season: how Avdija’s role changes now that the roster around him looks very different.
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Ja Morant Just Put Portlands Biggest Backcourt Question Front And Center
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Coach Micah Nori has already sounded encouraged about Morants place in the mix, pointing to the hope that the guard can be a real boost if he stays on track physically. Morant signed a five-year extension in 2022, so Portland is not just thinking about a short-term jolt here. The bigger question is how a crowded guard rotation actually settles once the season gets here, and whether the Blazers can turn all that star power into something cleaner than a logjam. [Read more 🡒]
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Henderson also comes off a season that showed why Portland is still intrigued. Even in limited action, he put together the most productive scoring stretch of his young career, and the Blazers can now weigh that growth against everything else they are trying to manage around him. For a player entering a pivotal contract year, the question is no longer just whether he can help the team now, but whether he can make himself the long-term answer at point guard before the next decision window opens. [Read more 🡒]
Former Blazers Big Just Landed A Chance Portland Fans Should Watch
Duop Reath has found another NBA landing spot, and it is the kind of move Blazers fans know well: a skilled big man getting a shot because a team suddenly needs help up front. The Phoenix Suns signed the former Portland center to add frontcourt depth after an injury thinned their rotation, giving the undrafted 2023 signee another chance to prove why his floor-spacing as a stretch five has kept him in the league conversation.
For Portland, Reath's name still carries a little extra interest because his time with the Blazers came during a stretch when the team was sorting through its center rotation. He later moved on to Atlanta, but the path that got him here has been the familiar one for a player trying to carve out a role on the margins, and now Phoenix is asking him to do it again while it waits for its injured big man to get back. [Read more 🡒]