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It's time for Danny Avdia, who we saw in the national team, to come to Washington

Danny Abedia's third season in the NBA may largely determine his career ceiling: will he specialize as a defensive stopper in the top five or become a Swiss army knife off the bench?

One thing is almost certain: the second option holds a greater opportunity.

Assaf Ravitz on the tricky situation, and the lesson from EuroBasket

Assaf Ravitz

16/10/2022

Sunday, October 16, 2022, 2:00 p.m

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Danny Avdia and Kristaps Porzingis in shooting practice (from Twitter)

Danny Avdia opens his third season in the NBA.

In the second season, he established himself as a legitimate role player in the making, one that could easily be imagined as a rotation player on a good team for years.

It may have the potential to be even more than that, but that is much less certain.

Every season is an opportunity for a significant leap forward, but it seems that in the upcoming season the focus will be on strengthening the existing status, which is very impressive in itself.

The goal: first of all, to preserve the existing.

Avdia (Photo: Reuters)

Summary of the second season and the summer

Avdia's second season in the best league in the world was divided into two parts.

In the first, Washington was a competitive team trying to get a spot in the playoffs, and Danny fit into their rotation thanks to the ability to contribute immediately.

The area in which he particularly excelled was personal defense.

As the season progressed, it was clear that this was the Wizards' best stopper, and he began guarding the opposing stars, from point guards to power forwards.

He even showed an ability to handle centers in exchanges.

A combination of size, high reaction speed and healthy defensive instincts made him a player who was not easy to get into a good shooting position against.

He rarely made mistakes at the team level and proved to be a good defensive rebounder for his position, which helped create a complete and impressive defensive package.

It usually takes time for young players to learn the ropes of NBA defense, Avdia has already become a quality defensive player in the league at the age of 21.

The numbers support this claim.

Through the first 50 games of the season, before Bradley Beal was benched, Avdia's defensive rating was the best of Washington's rotation.

In the minutes he played, the Wizards conceded 106.9 points per 100 possessions, almost equal to the third-best defense in the league.

The players he kept shot 3.7 percent less than expected overall, and 6.4 percent less than expected from three (28.9 percent).

The fact that personal defense is Avdia's strong point does not make it an area that can be taken for granted from here on out.

One of the key questions about his career will be whether he remains just another good point guard or becomes the type of senior stopper that big teams are fighting for.

Herbert Jones from New Orleans, for example, was able to convince already in his rookie season that he is such a senior stopper.

The area Avdia needs to improve in personal defense is the transition of blocks.

A method of automatic substitutions is more suitable for him, but to become a player who faces every situation he will have to improve the ability to fight with a strong and accurate block, to minimize the time his player remains free.

In the second part of the season, after Bill's suspension, Washington gave up the season and Avdia played in a situation where the results are less important.

It was an opportunity for him to try to bring out offensive abilities that he had difficulty showing in a competitive team.

In the last 16 games of the season Danny led the ball, got to the ring, managed a game at times and provided 12.6 points and 3.6 assists per game, much more than at any other time in his short NBA career.

The last month of the season is considered one where you shouldn't take the statistics accumulated in it too seriously, because most teams don't take most of what happens in it too seriously.

What was important during this period was the experience and confidence Avdia gained as a scorer and secondary game manager.

The summer was a direct continuation of the end of the season.

Avdia worked on two main areas - shooting from three and driving the ball.

Shooting continues to be the central Achilles heel on Danny's path to becoming a complete complementary player.

In the second season, he made 31.7 percent three-pointers, an almost exact reproduction of his rookie season and a number that causes opponents to ignore him when he is on the three-point arc.

Even when it comes to moving the ball, he sometimes seems insecure in front of pressing defenses and had trouble creating advantages with changes of direction.

In the Israeli national team, where he is the senior player, Danny showed something of what he worked on in the summer.

His national team campaign was not consistent, but did include sparks of shooting, penetration and above all high level game management.

The Washingtonians were impressed with what they saw precisely because these are the pieces Abdia is missing to become the player they want him to be.

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Showed exactly what he lacked to become the player Washington wants.

Avdia in the national team's uniform (photo: official website, FIBA ​​website)

for the upcoming season

NBA players are very dependent on the situation they find themselves in.

Danny Avdia found himself in Washington, a team that currently seems stuck in a bad place in the middle, trying to win and not really succeeding.

Bradley Beal signed a long and prestigious contract in the summer ($251 million for five years), and Tommy Shepherd's goal is to build a staff around him that will be established in the playoffs.

The most significant move in the last year was the trade that brought Kristaps Porzingis, the Latvian center whose position in the league is fading, to the team during the last season.

Beal and Porzingis haven't played together yet, this is an interesting combination that can lead to a strong offensive team, but few believe it will be enough to enter the playoffs in the East.

In the summer, Will Barton and Monte Morris joined from Denver, and the one who went the opposite way is Kentavious Caldwell Pope, who was the starting small forward last season.

Morris, Beal, Kyle Kuzma and Porzingis are safe in the starting five, the question is who will start in the number 3 position, Abadia or Barton.

Since Danny is injured from the team games and did not participate in the preparation games, it is difficult to know whether Wes Anseld designates a place for him in the five or if he intends to bring him from the bench.

This is an important question, because these are two different roles.

On the face of it, the more logical option would be to increase Avdia's losses by five.

Although Barton is the most complete and senior player today, he looks good as a sixth player in Denver and will be very suitable to lead the second unit in Washington as well.

Anseld could certainly use a quality stopper in his quintet, a quintet with glaring defensive question marks, and he doesn't have another player on the roster that can guard different types of outside players like Avdia.

As a five player, Avdia will be the fifth rib in the attack.

He will be the player the defense is least concerned with, trying to hide their weakest guard in front of him or the player who tends to reach for help.

The big advantage of this five is the margin it produces, thanks to the constant threat of Porzingis shooting from the outside.

Danny enjoyed playing alongside Porzingis at the end of last season, he is exactly the type of player who needs the maximum margin to get to the ring and finish there effectively, or attract outside help and find the free player.

As a fifth man, he will be able to take advantage of the small advantages created for him by the senior players to initiate these moves.

He has improved his decision-making speed in such situations and often catches the defense off guard for his penetration.

If he hits enough of his free throws from three, he could be a pretty ideal fifth man.

Even if not, it's less of a problem when he's surrounded by good outside shots.

Next to him in the five, he will get a chance to specialize in the position that suits him best at the moment.

Avdia with Bradley Beal (Photo: Reuters)

As a substitute, he will be used much more as a creator, secondary and maybe also primary.

The obvious second five does not include too many players with the ability to create shooting situations for themselves or others.

It makes sense that Anseld would divide the minutes so that a senior five player would play alongside the substitutes (Beal's lineup and four substitutes could fit), but even so Abdia would be required to create quite a bit on his own.

He proved in the team that he is able to create shooting situations for himself and especially for others, that his vision of the game is at a high level and he can find a free player at any stage of the move.

He is probably not yet ready to do it against senior defenses, but against the lower quality guards in the opponent's second units, it is very possible that he will be able to express the ability to create shooting situations already this year.

What is better?

Both options have advantages.

As a fifth rib in the five, Avdia will get a chance to specialize in the role that suits him best at the moment - the defensive stopper who does enough of everything in the attack to justify his minutes.

He will continue to guard the opponent's stars in defense and will use the distance in attack to polish the abilities he already has.

If opponents try to stick low guards on him, as happened occasionally last season, he'll get a chance to prove he can take them down to the post and create something from there.

As a substitute who gets more opportunities to create, Danny will be able to develop the potential that can make him more than a role player.

His vision of the game is much better than that of a standard complementary player, and he showed an initial ability to lead the ball and create shooting situations for himself, especially after exchanges against heavy guards.

If he develops into a player who can be given the ball, get a block and in most cases get a good shot, it will be possible to imagine him as the third-fourth most important player in a big team in the future.

The ability to lead the ball by himself will also make the problem of shooting from three less critical, but of course it is better if he just improves his shooting.

I still believe that the improvement will come, maybe already this year, his shot looks better and better and he is ready to work hard every summer to improve the percentages.

The highest trade value in the group.

Avdia with Tommy Shepard (photo: Official website, Basketball Association)

In any case, the NBA season can develop in unexpected ways.

Injuries in the team can change the status and role of each player, the start of a particularly good or bad season for the team can affect in all kinds of ways, including thinking about trades.

Among the youngsters, Avdia is the player with the highest trade value in the team, the most significant asset in case Shepard looks for a move that will strengthen the chance of current success.

But Avdia, more than one-dimensional players like Roy Hachimura and Corey Kispert, also holds the Wizards' greatest hope for a leap from within, from the existing roster.

If he develops into a truly senior stopper, improves his shooting a bit and shows rudimentary secondary creator abilities—not unreasonable expectations for a 21-year-old player who appears to have those tools at Arsenal and is willing to work hard to maximize them—he could be the one to help Washington in the near or somewhat distant future. More, to turn from a mid-table team and below into a legitimate playoff team.

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