Blazers' Deni Avdija Reveals Plan For Offseason Improvement

While there was some hope of a potential NBA Play-In Tournament run, the Portland Trail Blazers had a largely disappointing season, ending at 12th place in the Western Conference with a 36-46 record.

That being said, there were some surprising high points during the season. Specifically, these were seen with the performances of shooting guards Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe.

Simons averaged 19.3 points, 4.8 assists, 2.7 total rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game across 70 games. Meanwhile, Sharpe averaged 18.5 points, 4.5 total rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 0.9 steals per game across 72 games, 52 of which he started.

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Another player who stood out was small forward Deni Avdija, who came to Portland from the Washington Wizards.

While the early season started a bit slowly, he wound up averaging 16.9 points, 7.3 total rebounds, 3.9 assists, one steal, and 0.5 blocks per game across 72 games, 54 of which he started.

🗣️ THAT. DENI. ENERGY.

🎥 Top 5 Dunks of ‘24-25 Season pic.twitter.com/RCcuwFyo5W
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) April 23, 2025

“I just play hard and work hard, and I feel like it’s kind of like shown for our young guys as well,” Avdija said at the end of the season, per Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. “But I definitely like to be an example.”

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Needless to say, Avdija very much could be the future of the Trail Blazers. This was most exemplified by his final 15 games of the 2024-25 NBA season where he averaged 24.1 points, 10.5 total rebounds, and 5.5 assists while shooting 51.5 percent from the field.

Despite this success, Avdija realizes where he wants to improve for next season.

“The next step for me is to become a great two-way player,” Avdija said. “Be more involved on the defensive end.”

According to Fentress, Avdija will be an easy NBA All-Star candidate if he were able to pull this off next season as well as a legitimate player to build the Trail Blazers franchise.

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For more news and notes about the Portland Trail Blazers, head on over to Portland Trail Blazers on SI.