Portland Trail Blazers’ Deni Avdija Trade Gets A- Grade One Year Later

The Portland Trail Blazers’ trade for Deni Avdija in the 2024 offseason was met with some skepticism at the time. In large part, that skepticism was due to the draft capital Portland gave up to the Washington Wizards in the outgoing package: the 2025 No. 14 pick, a 2029 first-round pick, and two future seconds, alongside veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon.

However, just one year later, the trade is aging pretty well for the Trail Blazers — even at that price — after a breakout season from the 6-foot-9 forward.

ESPN’s Kevin Pelton agrees with that sentiment. In a recent piece where he revisited the biggest moves from last summer, Pelton revised Portland’s original grade for the Avdija acquisition from a C+ to an A-.

During Avdija’s first few weeks with the Blazers, it looked as if they might have been mistaken to buy into his 2023-24 shooting improvement. Avdija was languishing below 25% from 3 and lost his starting job. But from Veterans Day on, Avdija was the team’s best player, averaging 18.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists on 39% 3-point shooting and 56% inside the arc.

Given Avdija’s favorable contract (descending from $14.4 million this season to $11.9 million in 2027-28), if Portland wanted to deal Avdija again, teams might offer even more first-round picks for him. The biggest issue is that Avdija’s contract is so good, it probably will take using cap space for a renegotiation in the summer of 2027 to sign him to an extension.

For their part in the deal, Pelton still thought the Wizards did fine business. Washington used that No. 14 pick on young guard Bub Carrington, who had a solid rookie season. He averaged 9.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 30 minutes per game in 82 appearances. Meanwhile, Brogdon averaged 12.7 points and 4.1 assists, but appeared in just 24 games and is currently an unrestricted free agent. Pelton revised Washington’s trade grade from a B+ to a B-.

The Wizards probably dealt Avdija at the right time, given it might have been difficult to replicate his performance with the Blazers on a team in full rebuilding mode. The No. 14 pick, used on Carrington, might be better than contending teams could have offered in a deal.

Looking forward, that 2029 first-round pick Washington got will be the second-most favorable pick out of Boston/Milwaukee/Portland in the draft order.