Hello Bullets Forever readers!
My name is David Korn and I am so excited to join this amazing site to help cover the Washington Wizards. A bit about me: I graduated from George Washington in 2023 and have
spent the last six years living in Washington, DC covering college basketball. I broadcasted GW Men’s and Women’s Basketball games on the radio and have written about college basketball for a number of different outlets. I also host the GW Basketball Insiders show on friend of the site Matt Modderno’s Department of Hoops network.
With where the Wizards are as an organization, it can feel like looking ahead at the NBA Draft is as, if not more important a part of the season than the actual basketball being played. The Wizards have unfortunately not had the best of luck in the lottery, especially this past season when they fell to the sixth pick despite being one of three teams with the best odds to land the first overall selection. While Tre Johnson has looked like a solid selection so far, it is easy to imagine a future where the Wizards ended up with one of the top three picks, Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper or V.J. Edgecome, who are all looking like future superstars.
This year, there are three can’t-miss freshman draft prospects who are currently projected to go in the first three picks of the 2026 NBA Draft: Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, BYU wing AJ Dybantsa and Duke forward Cameron Boozer. Throughout the season and up until the draft, I will be keeping you updated on the latest with Peterson, Dybantsa and Boozer while also highlighting some more under-the-radar prospects who the Wizards could target later in the first round with their Thunder/Clippers/Rockets first round pick or via trade.
The first player I am highlighting: Neoklis Avdalas.
Neoklis Avdalas, 6’9” freshman guard from Virginia Tech
Neoklis Avdalas burst into the national spotlight this past weekend with a 33 point, six assist and five rebound performance for the ages in an overtime victory over Providence on Saturday at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Mohegan Sun.
The 6’9” ballhandler from Greece, who will turn 20 in February, arrived at Virginia Tech for his freshman season with high expectations and has already flashed superstar potential. Like so many of his European peers in college basketball this season, Avdalas has brought a wealth of professional and international experience with him. He spent two years in Greece’s top league, playing for AS Karditsas in 2023-24 and Peristeri BC in 2024-25. With Peristeri BC last season playing against grown men, Avdalas averaged 8.8 points and 19.2 minutes per game while shooting 40.7% from three.
After receiving an invite to the NBA Draft combine last season and kicking the tires on declaring for the 2025 draft, Avdalas decided that his best course of action would be to go the collegiate route before trying again in 2026. Through three games, that is looking like the absolute right decision. His early-season performance against Providence has people within the industry buzzing about his potential. As a tall, European lead guard who can score at all three levels, one particular name keeps coming up when discussing NBA comparisons for Avdalas–Luka Doncic.
Watching his tape against Providence, it is easy to see why people are making those comparisons. The way Avdalas can handle the ball at his size, get to his spots and create his own shot at all three levels and change pace so fluidly is all very Doncic-esque. While the Doncic comps may be a bit premature and optimistic, a more realistic one is Brooklyn Nets rookie and Russian native Egor Demin, who was drafted with eighth overall this past draft after playing his freshman season at BYU.
The 6’9” Denim has had an up-and-down start to his NBA career with the Nets, but showed a lot of promise as a versatile scorer and playmaker last season at BYU, averaging 10.6 points and 5.5 assists per game while struggling with his outside shot, shooting 27.3% from three. Avdalas has a lot of the same playmaking upside as Demin, but has already shown a more developed outside shot from his time in Europe and with his 5-8 three point shooting performance against Providence–more than any Demin had in a single collegiate game.
Not surprisingly, the biggest knock on Avdalas’ game is his defense. A plus athlete at 6’9”, he has the physical tools to be at least a passable off-ball NBA defender, but that has yet to show so far. He will likely get his fair share of blocks just by being on the floor at his height, but that does not mean that he is a polished interior defender. I personally would not worry too much about his defense at this point. Yes, he will struggle on the ball as a point-of-attack defender, but in the NBA he should not be put in that position very often.
In early mock drafts, analysts have Avdalas all over the first round. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie has him at 28 in his latest mock. CBS Sports’ Adam Finkelstein has Avdalas a little higher at 21. Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has him all the way at 14. In order for the Wizards to have a shot at Avdalas without making a trade, they would probably hope that he falls towards the end of the first round so they could use their least favorable of the Thunder/Clippers/Rockets first round picks. If Avdalas continues to shoot at a high level, it is difficult to imagine a player of his skillset who does not have significant shooting concerns falling out of the lottery.
It is very easy to envision Avdalas’ fit alongside the Wizards’ young core because of his positional versatility and playmaking. He could play alongside Bub Carrington in more of a secondary creator role or start as the point guard in more jumbo lineups. The NBA is trending towards taller, positionless lineups, and having a player like Avdalas would give the Wizards the ability to have one of the most versatile units in the league.
Virginia Tech is just about a four hour drive from Washington, DC. The Hokies are looking like an NCAA Tournament team this year, and Avdalas is the biggest reason why. It would be well worth the day trip down to Blacksburg to check out one of the most intriguing 2026 NBA Draft prospects.
