BY: Tony Liebert
â Youth Career
In August 2018, Avdija participated at the Basketball Without Borders Europe camp in Belgrade, Serbia. Basketball Without Borders is a camp that takes place all over the world, and gives non-American youth players the ability to showcase their skills to American college scouts as well as sometimes NBA scouts. There has been a long list of NBA players who have attended this camp, which include:
Profesional Career
In November 2017, Avdija started his professional career with Maccabi Tel Aviv, signing a six-year deal with the club. On November 19, 2017, he made his professional debut against Ironi Nes Ziona. Avdija played three minutes and became the youngest player ever to play for Maccabi at age 16 years, 320 days. He is still currently playing with the club, although Deni has struggled to find playing time in 2019. This is most likely due to his involvement with the Israeli National Team, and Maccabi Tel Aviv not wanting to "over-work" him.
âNational Team Career
In August of 2017, Avdija was a member of the Israel U-16 team that participated in the 2017 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. He would lead the tournament in rebounds (12.6) and assists (5.3), to go with 15.3 points per game.
The following year in July, Avdija became a member of the Israeli Under-20 team that won the gold medal at the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. Where he again performed very well averaging 12.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Avdija performed so well, he earned a spot in the All-Tournament Team. âOn February 21, 2019, as an 18 year old Avdija made his debut for the Israeli senior national team in an 81â77 win over Germany.
Just recently this July Avdija and the Israeli Under-20 team was competing in the â 2019 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. Deni and Israel took home their second consecutive gold medal in the event. Avdija was named the Tournament MVP after scoring 26 points, 11 rebounds and 5 steals against France and 23 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds against Spain. This is just the beginning of the hype train for Avdija, but he has now shown he can dominate his peers.
2020 NBA Draft
Full (5:35) Highlights from 2019 FIBA Europe Under-20 MVP and Championship run:
What Makes Deni Different?
You might ask, "What makes Deni Avdija different from any other hyped European prospect?" There have been plenty that have been HUGE disappointments, Dragan Bender, Dante Exum, and Mario Hezonja just to name a few.
âBut Deni is different. He fits the perfect mold for a modern NBA superstar. Outside of Anthony Davis the top 10 players in the league are predominantly ball dominant point guards or wings. Avdija fits that mold... as a 6'9" wing he averaged 7.6 assists per contest during Israel's gold medal run in the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. Those numbers would make his game comparable to a player like Luka Doncic or LeBron James. And you may say, "Deni Avdija in the same conversation as Luka Doncic and LeBron?... you're crazy." I obviously don't think Avdija will be as good as Doncic or LeBron, but his game sure has some similarities to theirs. Athleticism/Defense
As an 18 year old Avdija already has elite athleticism, that will carry right into the NBA. The biggest trait in an all-NBA defender is usually athleticism, and Deni flashes just that. Even in the 2019 FIBA Europe Under-20 championship game against Lithuania, he made big block after big block showing the potential of a lock-down defender. Once he is in an NBA coaching/training system I expect him to develop into a elite defender.
Scoring Ability
Passing
There is not doubt that the strength of Avdija's game is his passing ability. Like I previously said Deni averaged a ridiculous 7.6 assists per game during the FIBA Europe Under-20 tournament. This would be where I begin to compare Avdija to LeBron or Luka Doncic. All three players have a knack to make a pass before the play even happens. If Deni remains hungry he could become the next great point forward in the NBA.
The FIBA Europe Under-20 has historically been dominated by great basketball countries like Spain, Lithuania, or Serbia. In the last two years Israel has taken home their first two medals both being gold medals led by Deni Avdija. Israel is a country of only 8.7 million people and Deni has taken the entire population by storm. Even if Deni doesn't thrive in the NBA he will be the king of Israel's and have an entire country behind him during his basketball career.
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May 2020
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