Deni Avdija | Scouting Report

I’m Kuzey, 19. I’ve been writing about basketball since I was 9. I have been working in Eurosport Turkey for the last 1,5 year. I have written on various sites and magazines before. I’ve been working as a freelance scout for three years. I worked as a consultant. I have interviewed dozens of prospects such as Theo Maledon, Deni Avdija, Henri Drell, Aleksej Pokusevski, Arturs Kurucs, Yves Pons and dozens of notable basketball people such as Luis Scola, Xavi Pascual, Jonathan Givony, Dimitris Itoudis, Joan Plaza, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Derrick Williams. I write an article every day. I live in Turkey, I go to all the Euroleague and Youth League games. MY BIGGEST GOAL IS SCOUTING! Anyway, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and feel free to DM!

Background

Deni Avdija is son of Zufer Avdija, who played professional basketball and son of Sharon Artzi, who was a track athlete. His first sport was football. Deni was a wing player in football and played until the age of eight or nine. When he was nine years old, he told his father that he lost interest in football and wanted to play basketball.

At first, he looked at basketball with doubt. Because he was thin compared to his peers. But, his father told Deni that there was nothing to worry about. He told that the world would not end if he did not succeed in basketball.

DA started basketball at Bnei Herzliya and joined Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2013.

In 2017, Israeli player became the youngest player to debut for the club’s senior team. In 2018–19, he became a major rotation player for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Premier League. In the following season, he began receiving regular playing time across all competitions.

Deni Avdija works with Ioannis Sfairoploulos. Ioannis Sfairoploulos makes special training with Deni after each team training. Ioannis Sfairoploulos after a training called Deni and explained about the switch defense. Then in their first practice, he set up the same offensive position and asked Deni to do defense. After a few attempts, Advija was successful. After that, Sfairoploulos said, “You will be a great NBA player.”

Deni Avdija is working on shooting and dribbling in his individual training. He is physically training 22 hours a week.

One of the biggest factors in his development is Veljko Perovic. Perovic has been coaching Deni for six years. They did their first-day work out every morning from 7 to 9. They then continue to work in the evening.

Deni Avdija, whose manager is Matan Siman Tov, has a good off-court life. He uses social media well and takes part in social projects. But sometimes it can be an egoist person around friends. He and his family are very good. Both his mother and father support Deni in every sense. The bond between them is very strong.

Here are his hobbies. Deni love going out with his friends, spending time with his family, playing PS, and going to the beach. His friends think Avdija fun and cool. He likes to do fun things when Deni not playing basketball. Israeli player enjoys observing around and joking about things.

Mentality

I have a few concerns about the mentality of Deni Avdija, but I think end of the day, he is good about that. I think it is important for a 19 y/o player to take responsibility in the EuroLeague and Israel League. Deni Avdija never gave up on that fight in the past four years. The Israeli forward is generally disciplined both on and off the court. But I have doubts about his mentality. He loses concentration during the game. It causes him to make simple mistakes. Especially on defense. It is possible to see that Deni made critical mistakes due to lost concentration. Of course, it should not forget that he is only 19 years old.

Physical Tools

I think this part is very important for Deni Avdija. Also, this part can explain why he is one of the star players in the 2020 NBA Draft. 6–9 Israeli prospect was thin until the 2019 FIBA U20 Championship. He had a wide wingspan and legs that were a little bit average length. But muscle mass was lack of in all areas of his body. His arms were long but not stiff. It was evident from his actions in the painted area that his chest and core muscles were weak. His shoulders were wide but weak. However, at that championship, Deni showed how well he developed physically. A year has passed, and I think Deni Avdija is physically in perfect shape. He does not have the best lower body coordination in the world. But the muscle mass in his upper body and ability to use this muscle effectively is very important. Because Deni Avdija can play as a guard by combining physical tools with court vision and handling. So, he can play as PG, SG, SF and PF. I think he has a promising NBA career. Because he can play versatility both on offense and defense. Of course, more things are here.

Offense

I think Deni Avdija’s most valuable skill in offense is his effectiveness in off-ball games. I mean, Avdija find scores in three different ways when guard/forward is preparing team setup on the top or wing. First, he does not use screens when driving from the corner to the painted area. After the first drive, he goes out again and takes the ball. After that, he creates space for himself with quick footwork and timing. Second, CnS. Third, using the screen, Avdija drives the painted area from a single corner channel. After that, he takes the ball and can finish the position with fluidity. I think DA is an average finisher around the basket. He does not have great pop and struggles to finish in traffic. However, Avdija can finish around the basket very well thanks to his body control, craftiness (uses plenty of pump fakes, change direction both air and ground, reverses, etc), smooth athleticism, and soft touch. I am a big fan of his catch and drive. But I think Avdija may have trouble finishing around the basket at the NBA level. Because this season he showed strong finishing skills in just a few matches. I mean, his lack of explosiveness, lack of great vertical pop, and focusing problems may hurt him about that. In my opinion, Deni’s athleticism skills are good. He does not have much vertical pop and lack of elite explosiveness. But his hip turns, lateral quickness, acceleration, energy transfer from his lower body to upper and quick footwork are good. Shooting. There are both good and bad things about his shooting. I think it’s hard to describe Deni Avdija as a good shooter right now. He showed some flashes on CnS, movement shooting, off dribble jumpers, and spot-ups. However, he is not consistent with any of the long-range shots. I think there are three things that effective here. Avdija does not always choose good shots. Sometimes he makes choices of shots that take him out of rhythm. There is a problem with his final touch in solid shooting mechanics. The crunch in his body sometimes gets too much, and this lowers his energy. However, at the end of the day, I think his shooting is promising. Because the power of his upper body and solid & smooth elbow angles are good in his shooting mechanics. There is an average pop in his release. Thanks to his game reading skill, general quickness, and footwork, he is not a shooter you want to take risks in off-ball games. In my opinion, this skill can make DA an NBA fit shooter. Here is my reason for that. His finishing ability in the painted area and threatens to open a little bit of spacing may make him a good off-ball offensive player at the NBA. Although he does not have good vertical pop, DA is an effective post up scorer. He has a solid handle. He does a good job keeping the ball low and in control on drives. He knows how to create a shield around the ball with his body. He is a classical passer. I mean, he is not a passer who can pass the ball with craftiness. He can hit all four levels out of the PnR-PnP: roll/pop, spots, paint off the screen and off-ball cut. Thanks to his wide court vision, finishing skill and quick steps, I think Deni Avdija is a good handler on PnRs.

Defense

In my opinion, Deni Avdija is a high-level team defender. He does a great job rotating to the paint to rim protection thanks to his BBIQ. I mean, his timing is not good, also, lack of elite athleticism hurt him but his BBIQ shines. He always talks on defense for rotating positions with teammates. But I have general concerns here. As I said, Deni Avdija sometimes loses concentration. Thus, he makes very simple mistakes on defense. Rotating is good but has a timing problem due to loss of concentration. If there is going to be a high-level team defender in the NBA, I think DA should work on this. Because the defense systems in the NBA are almost entirely switch-based. It is obvious how important timing is during switch. Thus, I think DA should improve on that. Maccabi Tel Aviv is one of the best defensive teams in the EuroLeague. I think coach Ioannis’ distributing POA keys well is the biggest reason for this. I mean, players who are in POA during PnRs can press their opponents both technically and physically. Deni Avdija is one of the good pieces in coach Ioannis’ team defense, with solid physical tools and high BBIQ. DA does a good job fighting through the screen and trying to get back in the play. Deni is smart with the angles he takes and tries shooting the gap for steals here. He is not a good off-ball defender. Israeli prospect is not someone I would want chasing players off screens. He can be beat backdoor movements. His lateral quickness and hip turn make him average ISO defender. Generally, Deni does a great job beating the ball to the spot, but his rim protection is not good enough. Lack of elite vertical pop and timing problems hurt him here. In the EuroLeague and Israel League, he showed a few good examples. He used rim protection using his wide wingspan and BBIQ, not consistent. At the end of the day, there are a few doubts and good things about Deni’s defense projection in the NBA. I think Deni Avdija is someone who has the ability to complete team defense and overwhelm the opponent with his intense defense. However, the timing problem caused by loss of concentration may make it difficult for him to make a good defense against offense in the NBA pace. I think DA needs to improve on that.

Summary

I think Deni Avdija is a fit player for the NBA. Because he can use his physically tools (with the dribble-passing-handle-shooting package) very well on both offense and defense. But I think his star level in the NBA may be a bit low. Because now it is hard for him to play a role in NBA other than three & D. He does not have the creative abilities to beat the smart defense players in the NBA. I think he can be a complementary part of any team with his BBIQ, fluid athleticism, average shooting threat and effort.