Yes.
…okay, but seriously, the Portland Trail Blazers might have Deni Avdija on the best non-rookie contract in the NBA, and his 26 points, 7 boards, and 6 assists a game look an AWFUL like All-Star stats.
We talked about that on the latest We Like the Blazers podcast, with Conor arguing that Avdija has broken through a “fake fringe” of All-Star wannabes (Avdija conversation starts at 16:04):
Conor: The team needed somebody to take a leap, and Deni for all intents and purposes is an All-Star right now. It’s not even like, “oh, he’s putting up All-Star numbers because the team is like bad right now.” Jeremi Grant two seasons ago, he was putting up around All-Star numbers on the fringe. If he was on the Thunder, maybe he kind of gets in there, but you’re not going to get to the All-Star game with those numbers as a Trail Blazer on a losing team. Deni right now has busted through that fake fringe and is just firmly [in the All-Star conversation], he’s like 16th or something in scoring. The assist numbers are going up. The team keeps scaling his role, and each game he seems to get more comfortable in it, and his production has only gotten higher and the efficiency has stayed the same.
Brandon: It matters if you can take the leap from good to great. It’s a lot harder than from not-so-great to good. And doing it in games that mean something. The other thing that jumps out to me with Deni Avdija is, I was kind of wondering when he would have a bad game because bad games do happen. And the thing is that he course corrects nearly immediately, right? Like it’s not like he had a hot streak and then now he has like a run of three bad games and two good games and four bad games. He’s been able to maintain that consistency which is really, really important.
We also had a chance to fire up the fake trade machine and opine about whether the Blazers might be in the market for a not-so-gently-used Zion Williamson or Anthony Davis (conversation starts at 36:18):
Brandon: You know what else is much less sexy but much more possible as far as weird trades for former or current superstars big men go? Anthony Davis.
Conor: Oh, see I thought you were going Zion. And I was just going to totally…
Brandon: [Interrupting] Let’s talk about that too! Let’s talk about them both really quick. Anthony Davis, he’s injured always. The Mavericks need to be building around Cooper Flagg. They truly need to move on from Anthony Davis. Are you interested? Are you in the Anthony Davis business for the Blazers?
Conor: I’m definitely more into that than Zion.
Brandon: Zion catchin’ strays!
Conor: It’s a bummer, but…
Brandon: What did he ever do to you? Did he dunk on you, Conor? Were you running at Multnomah Athletic Club and he dunked on you?
Conor: I’m just tired of trading for such huge gambles.
Brandon: And Anthony Davis is not a gamble at all!
Conor: He’s a gamble to a lesser extent. If you can hold on to Deni, I do not want to trade Deni for Anthony Davis at this point. I just think you kind of gut what makes this team special. They drive, they go downhill, they’re relentless. Deni I think is kind of the leader of that.
We also touch on grades for the Blazers through the first chunk of the season, how people in public treat you better when you’re with a baby, where the Blazers fall in the four tiers we created for the Western Conference, and more!
You can find We Like the Blazers on YouTube and basically any podcatcher.
