Indeed, he is anything but fully formed, and there are plenty of valid reasons for that. Give Avdija credit for his self-awareness and desire to grow. ![]() I’ve got a lot of stuff to improve - a lot of stuff to improve.” That was something that was really important for me, and I feel like I did that. I got better every day, and that was my goal. “An emotional roller coaster, especially, throughout the year,” Avdija said. A few weeks later in Detroit, Avdija scored a career-high 21 points, collected 10 rebounds and led his team to a victory. In early March, Avdija failed to score a single point in three consecutive road games, all losses, and appeared to lose his confidence. dispatched Avdija to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo during the fourth quarter of a close game, and Avdija’s tenacious defense helped the Washington Wizards defeat the Milwaukee Bucks. Typical of a 21-year-old trying to find his niche, tantalizing flashes of potential alternated with frustrating growing pains, sometimes in rapid succession.Įarly last November, coach Wes Unseld Jr. WASHINGTON - Deni Avdija compared his second NBA season to an amusement-park thrill ride. I’m not including Todd and Carey because they have not logged enough NBA minutes for scouts to form solid opinions. Do not take that as a slight against either youngster. One final comment: As you’ve probably noted, this series will not include articles about 20-year-old forward Isaiah Todd or 21-year-old big man Vernon Carey Jr. For example, if the scouts laud a player for his shooting, I will cite that player’s shooting stats. When scouts make observations about a player in this series, I attempt to check validity with statistics, video clips, my own opinions and comments by Wizards officials or players. Scouts are referenced as “Scout A,” “Scout B” and so on. When I write pieces like these, I take great care to reference only scouts’ opinions about on-court performance - not the scouts’ conjecture on a player’s attitude and not what the scouts may have heard secondhand about a player. ![]() Without granting anonymity, scouts’ opinions never would come to light. The Athletic grants the scouts anonymity because teams almost never grant their scouts permission to speak to the media about players who play for other teams. Because of that, they can provide fresh viewpoints that may or may not differ from viewpoints readers normally hear - those of the players themselves, coach Wes Unseld Jr. At the same time, these scouts are outsiders to the Wizards. They’re the ultimate insiders they specialize in evaluating players, and they can put specific players’ strengths and weaknesses into the context of the rest of the league. Let me explain the methodology, beginning with the most important questions you may have: Why rely on scouts? And why grant them anonymity?
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