Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija is coming off a breakout season during his first campaign in Rip City, and that uptick in quality was noticed by the folks at HoopsHype.
In the site’s rankings of the top 26 small forwards for the 2025-26 season, the HoopsHype staff gave Avdija high marks by placing him at No. 1o. The ranking was a 14-spot jump compared to Avdija’s placement at No. 24 in last summer’s list. It also put the 6-foot-9 forward ahead of players like Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen
Johnson, Miami Heat wing Norman Powell, Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr., Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram and New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy.
Handling the write-up duty for the staff rankings, HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina praised Avdija’s versatility and improved shooting.
A throwback Swiss Army Knife type of swingman who can do a bit of everything on both ends of the floor, Portland Trail Blazers wing Deni Avdija can score as a slasher or three-point shooter, rebounds very well for his position, can handle some play-making responsibilities, all while being able to defend multiple positions.
Avdija’s improved three-point shooting has played a large part in his breakout, as the 24-year-old has hit 36.9 percent of his threes over the past two seasons combined after shooting just 31 percent from beyond the arc over his first three campaigns.
Avdija is the third Blazers player to appear on HoopsHype’s offseason positional rankings this summer, with the rankings for power forwards and centers still set to come out at a later date. New Portland guard Jrue Holiday ranked No. 21 in the top 26 point guards list, while fourth-year guard Shaedon Sharpe ranked No. 17 in the list of the top 26 shooting guards.
You can read HoopsHype’s complete rankings for small forwards here.
