Developing Deni: A spectacle in San Antonio
"Turbo" was on full display in Alamo City Monday night, dropping a career-high 25 points and doing it in style. Let's talk about how he got it done in the Washington Wizards’ sixth straight victory.
This is the eleventh edition of my player development series in which I study game film in hopes of assisting athletes around the NBA in unlocking their full potential while also educating NBA fans on the intricacies of becoming and remaining an impact player.
The Performance
25 points (Career-high)
10/12 FG
2/2 3P
3/4 FT
9 rebounds
1 assist
1 steal
1 block
2 turnovers
The Film
Clip Counter: 20! (A basketball nerd’s dream)
First Quarter
Half of the battle in getting Deni Avdija going offensively is him crashing the glass. Avdija, whose scoring has taken a stride as of late, is oftentimes surrounded by more established shot creators while on the floor. With that being the case, there are fewer opportunities available to get a bucket in the half-court — a pecking order. A way for Avdija to counteract that reality is by creating more possessions for himself by grabbing rebounds.
In this situation, Avdija grabs the board and pushes the pace in transition. His combination of size and speed makes him a nightmare for any defender to see while backpedaling.
Avdija has a tendency to jump up when driving the lane, rather than out—launching to the rim. That, combined with picking up the ball prematurely, causes some awkward shot attempts further from the basket than they have to be.
If you’ve been with me long enough you know how excited I get seeing Avdija on the right wing. For a right-hand dominant player who’s developing a scorer’s mentality in the NBA, putting Avdija in positions of comfort on the court is a must. It eliminates the mental hurdle of possibly playing outside of himself by introducing familiar situations that illuminate instincts.
Avdija immediately notices the lack of help down low and registers that he only has one man to beat — rookie Malaki Branham.
Avdija has a first step at 22 years old that I project to be elite — it’s already pretty darn good. He gets downhill in the blink of an eye—another characteristic to add to his new “Turbo” moniker.
Avdija wisely initiates the contact — which drops Branham to the floor — then steps through for an effortless right-hand finger roll.
Kyle Kuzma or Kendrick Nunn have to work their way toward the ball — it’s that simple. A timeout can’t be burned right before the second quarter to prevent a five-second violation — that’s elementary. I don’t care who’s more excited to shoot a heave with 2.3 seconds remaining, inbounding the ball is most important.
Second Quarter
Avdija’s left-hand drive still needs work and you can tell here by his refusal to go baseline.
His left-hand mastery will fully unlock his offensive repertoire. A baseline drive here probably leads to an easy basket for him, rather than a forced pickup. Even if he doesn’t score on the left-hand drive, he collapses the defense which introduces many other playmaking opportunities.
Avdija, once again, created a possession for himself by crashing the defensive glass and pushing in transition.
Stanley Johnson tries taking Avdija’s right-hand drive away by cheating over the Taj Gibson screen. However, Avdija puts faith in his left-hand dribble drive, continues penetrating, then makes his way back to the dominant hand after a sweet euro step around Jakob Poeltl.
This is a sensational coast-to-coast from Avdija. His creativity is growing with each game.
Replicable mechanics and confidence. Two major keys to consistent jump shooting in the NBA.
Over the past month, Avdija has worked tediously on improving his jump shot. An issue he was struggling with came with his feet. Too often Avdija was over-adjusting his feet on the catch which caused inconsistencies in the rest of his mechanics.
On this make, he’s eliminated the “happy feet” by resting on the wing with a comfortable base. The rest takes care of itself. Splash.
Former NBA forward Drew Gooden said it best last night on the NBC Sports Washington broadcast: “Avdija has become Washington’s most consistent rebounder.”
Avdija led Washington with 8.2 rebounds per game in the month of January. That’s major.
I celebrate rebounding all the time because it requires effort more than skill — one of the few aspects of the game that can claim that as truth.
Avdija isn’t in the most advantageous position here to grab the rebound, but he’s the first to leave his feet — effort. Due to his length, he gets a hand on the ball, taps it off the glass, then corrals it. Keita Bates-Diop tries reaching in for a soft steal, but he’s immediately met with attitude from Avdija as he snatches the ball away.
This is what I mean when I say “own the atmosphere.” Avdija is doing just that.
Avdija pushes the pace on this possession by advancing the ball quickly — this possession quickly ends with another two points for Washington.
This is the matchup I wanted to see more of all night long. Deni Avdija and Jeremy Sochan. Both guys have a similar makeup: 6-foot-9, 210 plus pounds. Both guys have a similar, and unique, skill set as well — point forward types with projected elite-level defense and versatile scoring punch.
Remember my earlier point about Avdija’s left hand unlocking his offensive repertoire? Here’s an example of that.
Avdija knows Sochan is long and athletic enough to stay with him on a straight-line drive — Sochan’s hips are already open, inviting him downhill.
With that being the case, Avdija challenges Sochan to beat him to a spot with a crossover to his lefthand.
Sochan has to get his hands out of the cookie jar (avoid fouling) once Avdija crosses over.
Avdija quickly drops the ball through the basket with a wrong-hand finger roll and welcomes Sochan to the NBA.
This guy is going to be great, ladies and gentlemen. You’re watching him come into his own.
Third Quarter
It’s beyond evident Avdija is comfortable in transition.
What I like most here is Avdija reading the defender, Keldon Johnson, accurately.
Avdija seemingly wants to go euro step around Johnson, however, Johnson settles right in from of him and takes that option away. Avdija doesn’t allow that to derail his rhythm, and instead shortens up his second step and stays on the same side of the basket.
Extra: Avdija wants the bench to do his “Turbo” celebration after this bucket, however, Kuzma says this doesn’t qualify. I wonder what’s the minimum speed required to get the bench mob involved.
Well, didn’t take long for me to get an answer.
Avdija turns on the JETS after receiving this outlet pass from Corey Kispert.
There are two Spurs defenders higher on the floor than Avdija and he challenges both of them to stop him from getting to the basket.
Nice job utilizing the left hand, keeping the ball out of Branham’s reach. Even better job staying strong with the ball when passing it over to the right hand for the soft lay-in.
The team is all in on the Turbo celebration. It’s cool to see everyone involved and having fun while encouraging Avdija’s play. The vibes are good. The vibes are contagious.
I’ve mentioned this in a few Developing Deni’s already: Avdija has to make defenses pay for going under screens while guarding him.
Because getting downhill is such a huge part of Avdija’s game, and his shooting numbers don’t look the greatest at the moment, defenses will seek to eliminate his dribble drive. This shot is exactly how you counteract that.
Avdija has been doing an excellent job of getting his feet set quickly in order to effectively get his shot up in different scenarios. This is one of the first times I’ve seen him do that off the dribble this season.
He shoots on the way up, holds his follow-through, lands in the same spot, and doesn’t drift right. This is a textbook jumper from Avdija. He’s getting increasingly dangerous from everywhere on the floor each game.
Avdija is just oozing confidence at this point. This isn’t the Avdija I wrote about earlier in the season that wouldn’t look at the basket when the ball was in his hands, but instead, find the lead guard on the floor. He’s playing like he’s the lead guard on the floor now!
Again, he pulls out the counter cross with Johnson sitting on his right hand and continues the left-hand drive which draws a foul. Once you flip a defender’s hips while getting downhill, it’s hard for them to avoid fouling because they need something to lean on after recovering.
This allows Avdija to draw evident contact and head to the free-throw line.
This is just beautiful. Don’t forget, he can play make if you want him to.
Nice two-man game with Gibson — hitting him with a perfect pocket pass.
Bigs have to roll with intention when setting screens for Avdija. Gafford got called out in the last DD for doing the opposite. Avdija will get guys the ball in positions to score, they just have to trust his playmaking.
By continuing to command the offense the way Avdija has over the past few weeks, the message to the bigs will be received.
Fourth Quarter
Good morning, Israel!
When in doubt, get downhill.
That first step is so nasty, so quick, that his positional matchups have nightmares staying in front of it. They’re just too slow.
When guards are matched up on him, although they may be quicker to the spot, Avdija’s size is too much for them to handle — oftentimes leading to a foul.
Avdija is also learning how to use his elbow/forearm to get defenders off of him without fully extending the arm. I broke down how he could learn some tricks of space creation from James Harden earlier in this Developing Deni series.
Avdija has impressive size, speed, and IQ. This combination is SCARY.
Avdija smartly stunts toward Kristaps Porzingis on this possession to sell the DHO to Johnson, then clubs him through on his way backdoor.
The ball finds energy, the ball finds effort.
Good job by Avdija attacking the basket with confidence, using his unique vertical clear out (shield), and finishing the layup.
Lastly, this is an absolute dime to Vernon Carey Jr. Avdija put the pass where only Carey can get it while he has Branham on his back.
I wonder how long it’ll be until we see Avdija starting at point guard for Washington.
Amazing analysis Quinton 💪, Hope you'll get a job on the team... you could help developing Deni, Corey, VCJ, etc.
Keep 'em coming bro ❤️