The Trail Blazers claimed a spot in the playoffs because Deni Avdija had his “superstar moment” in the team’s biggest game, writes Bill Oram of The Oregonian. Avdija exploded for 41 points in Tuesday’s play-in win at Phoenix, becoming just the fifth player to reach the 40-point mark in the tournament’s seven-year history. He hit the game-winning shot with 16.1 seconds left to play and drew contact that fouled out Dillon Brooks.
“I feel like he’s unique,” teammate Jrue Holiday said of Avdija. “Nobody does what he does. To be able to damn near have a triple-double, on kind of an off-night for him … is something you love to see in Deni because this is what we expect from him now.”
Oram views the victory as a statement game for not only Avdija, but also for interim head coach Tiago Splitter, who hopes to get the job on a permanent basis; for general manager Joe Cronin, who made some controversial moves that ultimately paid off; and for Jerami Grant, who scored 16 points in 19 minutes off the bench in his return from a calf strain.
Splitter was also impressed by Avdija, who delivered in his first opportunity to lead a team in the postseason.
“I don’t even think he had a great game,” Splitter said, “but he just kept going, kept believing in himself (and) scored a couple buckets at the end.”
There’s more on the Trail Blazers:
- Splitter has earned a new contract after leading Portland to its first playoff appearance in five years, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report contends in a subscriber-only piece. He states that Splitter also delivered under pressure on Tuesday, calming the team during a time out midway through the fourth quarter that helped to reverse the momentum after Phoenix took an 11-point lead.
- There are concerns about whether new team owner Tom Dundon is willing to pay a competitive rate for a head coach, Oram states in another Oregonian story. Oram cites rumors around the league that Dundon wants his coach to earn about $1MM per year, roughly 25% of the typical salary for the position, which is why he’s looking at college coaches and ex-players such as Nuggets assistant Jared Dudley and Rockets assistant Royal Ivey, who might be willing to accept less money to get their first head coaching opportunity.
- Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated addresses the same theme, stating that Dundon is already expressing “sticker shock” at the high costs associated with being an NBA owner. Four sources tell Mannix that Dundon had several staffers check out of their Phoenix hotel rooms at noon ahead of Tuesday night’s game so the team wouldn’t be charged for an extra day. They spent hours in the hotel lobby waiting for the first bus to the arena.
- Scoot Henderson is finally getting a chance to be productive after injuries affected his first three NBA seasons. After missing the first 51 games this season with a torn left hamstring, the third pick in the 2023 draft has played his way into the starting lineup. “I never felt bad for myself,” Henderson said in an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “Even when [the injury] happened, I’m like, ‘I ain’t going to feel bad for myself.’ I just started laughing. I’m like, ‘All right. I see what’s happening. I see what the man above wants me to go through.’ I accepted it right when it happened. I’m into a different mode now. I’m at the recovery mode. I’m getting back healthy.”
Dundon doooonnnnnnnnn!
Tom Dundon will drive this team into the ground
Deni the SuperHero ——
25 yrs old. And 70% of so called basketball fans gave up on him in Washington 👏👏👏👏
When will we learn to give young players time to grow up. What is this fascination with failure. Too much negativity in this world lols. Thats why I choose sports. Sports is honest and real. It happens in front of your eyes. It happens to 25 yr olds. They become part of the Marvel Universe 🙏🏀 DA Blaziiinnnngg
That’s so true. You watch 22-year olds and sometimes don’t realize how much potential they still have.
It was tough to judge his tenure with the Wizards due to how dysfunctional the team was. Wasn’t nearly as aggressive as he is now, wasn’t a good enough shooter, and the left hand was still a question mark. I was high on him coming out of the draft and held onto those hopes during his time with the team, but I’ll admit that I did start to wonder a bit toward the end. Glad he got out of there and he’s exceeded even my originally high expectations. I was hoping he’d find renewed confidence with a new organization and that clearly did the trick.
But it also goes to show how there are right and wrong ways to tank, or even just build a roster in general. Ball hogs who don’t involve others….no competent PG on the roster…a questionable development system in general…you can still tank while checking off the boxes you need to check off to ensure players develop properly. The teams that think the only thing that matters is good draft odds and landing high picks don’t get it and never will.
It’s true Wash was dysfunctional. But like you said. You still have to commit to developing players. They keep getting picks and not wanting to pay guys like Deni. So move on. I believe in the draft. And a strong scouting team is your best power to build a team.
Bucks after reaching contender status. Kept blowing their #1 picks. Then traded them away. Drafting is a science and art lol. That is the foundation of any team. Especially in basketball where one player. Star, starter, or rotation player makes a big difference.
How does a guy get to have enough money to own an nba team but not have a clue beforehand what the operating costs are? That BS with hotel rooms will wind up costing them good support staff, talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face…
Jalen Johnson and Deni avdija proved this season that usage rate (aka opportunity) is sometimes the only thing that separates a role player from an all star.
Interesting how both of these guys were stuck for several years with non-efficient point guards (young&westbrook), and seized their opportunity in a selfless fashion that promotes being a good teammate.