2026-27 projection
| GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | 3PM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | 33.0 | .468 | .805 | 1.9 | 21.4 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 3.2 |
Role and evidence
Avdija started all 66 appearances in 2025-26 and averaged 24.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 33.3 minutes. His .462 FG and .802 FT were strong enough to make the volume usable, but 3.8 turnovers and modest defensive stats kept the 9-cat finish below the raw counting-stat impression. ESPN, accessed 2026-07-18
The median role is 33 minutes as starting forward and secondary creator beside Ja Morant and Damian Lillard. The guard additions reduce self-created possessions and free-throw volume, while Jerami Grant's departure preserves forward minutes. Toumani Camara absorbs the hardest defensive assignment, letting Avdija conserve energy for offense.
Fantasy value
- 9-cat: target around picks 35-50. He contributes in six categories but is not an elite steals/blocks source.
- Points: top-35-to-45 median because rebounds plus assists create a high floor.
- Dynasty: Hashtag Basketball ranks him No. 31; Dynatyze's July 18 board places him No. 23 for current-season value. Hashtag Basketball, updated 2026-07-02 · Dynatyze, updated 2026-07-18
Range
- Ceiling: 23/7/6 with two threes and top-25 value if Lillard is managed and Morant misses time.
- Floor: 18/6/4.5 with fewer free throws if Portland makes him a connective third option.
- Swing variables: Morant/Lillard availability, closing-lineup composition, and whether Micah Nori retains Avdija as the primary transition initiator.
Related: Portland Trail Blazers · Ja Morant · Donovan Clingan
Career record
Pre-NBA: no college. Maccabi Tel Aviv, three seasons (2017-2020), signed on November 5, 2017 at 16 as the youngest player ever to appear for the club's senior team. Minimal minutes in 2017-18; EuroLeague debut at 17 in 2018-19. The 2019-20 platform year split two competitions: 33 Israeli Basketball Premier League games at 27.6 minutes for 12.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists, alongside 26 EuroLeague games at roughly 14.5 minutes for 4.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists on far lower usage. Israeli League MVP in 2020 as the youngest winner in the award's history, All-Israeli League First Team, and FIBA U20 European Championship MVP in 2019. Draft: 2020, first round, ninth overall, Washington Wizards; no draft-night trade. Traded to Portland on July 6, 2024 for Malcolm Brogdon, the draft rights to Bub Carrington, and additional selections.
| Season | Age | Team | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PM | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | 20 | WAS | 54 | 23.3 | 6.3 | 4.9 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.0 | .417 | .644 | 0.6 |
| 2021-22 | 21 | WAS | 82 | 24.2 | 8.4 | 5.2 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.0 | .432 | .757 | 1.1 |
| 2022-23 | 22 | WAS | 76 | 26.6 | 9.2 | 6.4 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.9 | .437 | .739 | 1.6 |
| 2023-24 | 23 | WAS | 75 | 30.1 | 14.7 | 7.2 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.2 | .506 | .740 | 2.1 |
| 2024-25 | 24 | POR | 72 | 30.0 | 16.9 | 7.3 | 3.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.7 | .476 | .780 | 2.7 |
| 2025-26 | 25 | POR | 66 | 33.3 | 24.2 | 6.9 | 6.7 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.9 | .462 | .802 | 3.8 |
| Career | 425 | 27.9 | 13.3 | 6.3 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.3 | .462 | .771 | 2.0 |
Fantasy history: Season-end nine-cat per-game finishes are not publicly archived for any year of his career, so no rank is asserted here. What the verified lines establish: through 2022-23 he was not a standard-league asset in any format, and the fantasy career effectively begins with 2023-24. The current category profile contributes in six — points, rebounds, assists, threes, and both percentages, with the free-throw mark now an outright positive at .802 — while contributing nothing above replacement in steals or blocks and actively losing turnovers at 3.8 per game, the highest figure on this page. That combination is why the raw 24-7-7 line reads better than the roto finish did, and why he grades higher in points formats, where the rebound-plus-assist floor is fully paid and the turnovers cost proportionally less.
Durability: 54, 82, 76, 75, 72, 66. The rookie year ended on April 21, 2021 with a fractured right ankle against Golden State. Three healthy seasons followed in Washington. 2025-26 is the one to price: a lower back strain recurred across the year, costing about nine games through late February before he aggravated it on February 22 against Phoenix — he was pulled inside the first minute — and then sat five to six straight under "low back injury management" before returning against Indiana. Back injuries in a 25-year-old wing who plays through contact are a recurrence risk rather than a one-time event, and 66 games is his lowest total since the rookie ankle.
Trajectory: This is the most linear improvement curve among the players on this board — points, assists, and free-throw percentage have risen in every season since 2021-22, and the free-throw climb from .644 to .802 across six years is skill acquisition, not variance. Two distinct leaps: 2023-24, when field-goal percentage jumped from .437 to .506 on a real shot-diet correction toward the rim, and 2025-26, when Portland handed him the offense. The second leap is genuine rather than a minutes artifact — per 36 minutes he went from 20.3 points and 4.7 assists to 26.2 and 7.2, so the rate improved sharply, not just the exposure. The costs are visible in the same line: field-goal percentage slipped to .462 and turnovers to 3.8, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.76 that says the creation load was near the top of what he can carry efficiently. At 25 turning 26 in January he is entering rather than exiting prime, which argues the skill gains hold. The problem for 2026-27 is not aging, it is arithmetic: Ja Morant and Damian Lillard are two ball-dominant lead guards, and the 6.7 assists and the free-throw volume behind that .802 are exactly the categories that require possessions he is about to lose. The efficiency and the rebounds should survive the change; the 24 points and seven assists should not be treated as the baseline.
Career sources: ESPN career stats · Wikipedia — Deni Avdija · RealGM international stats · Yahoo Sports, back injury exit vs Phoenix · SI, return from back strain
Open questions
- How many of Avdija's 2025-26 touches survive two new starting lead guards?
- Does reduced offensive load lift his steals and efficiency enough to offset the lost counting stats?