Why the Trail Blazers Traded for Deni Avdija | Talking Fit & Scouting Report with @LockedOnWizards

Why the Trail Blazers Traded for Deni Avdija | Talking Fit & Scouting Report with @LockedOnWizards

in today’s show we’re talking all things Danny AIA with Brandon Scott of locked on Wizards why the trade went down how he fits and everything in between welcome to lockdown Blazers let’s get into [Music] it you are locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday what’s up world it’s your pass first point guard and Trailblazers reporter Mike Richmond you are listening to another episode of lockon blazers part of the lockon podcast network available wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube thanks for making this show your first list in every single day Monday through Friday each and every weekday so make it a part of your daily routine tell your friends to do the same make it your first listen it’s lockdown Blazers your team every day today’s episode a very special one I am joined by the host of locked on Wizards Brandon Scott Brandon SC how you doing man I’m doing man you after the draft I’m looking forward to the future yeah yeah yeah it’s getting a little light for uh for maybe the hav knots of the NBA it’s like I guess the the Wizards have been pretty active they signed yonas valent chunis they made a bunch of picks in the draft so you’ve had some you’ve had some uh you’ve had some action over there on the show I’m happy for you um the Blazers have been a little sleepy they’ve been a little sleepy a little quiet but they made their big move before the draft and that’s what we’re going to talk about here today they traded for Denny AIA they sent out picks and Malcolm Brogden to make it happen I want to talk about the deal what Denny brings why the Wizards did it Denny’s fit in Portland and all of that and who better to do it than a guy who’s watched his entire career in Washington let let’s start here though when the trade breaks I don’t know how you get the news um I don’t know if you’re like a social media notifications person but I got the news because a friend of mine text me but and what was your initial reaction when you saw the new go down to be honest very very shocked I was very high on Denny you know if you look at Denny I mean he’s 23 years old he’s a guy who’s gotten better every year homegrown we developed him he he broke out we sign him to extension so I was actually very very shocked because you know we’re going into year or two of a rebuild and I get it you know Will Dawkins is trying to put his own stamp on the front office and a lot of the guys who were drafted underneath Tommy Shepard you know there w a lot of loyalty because again Blau was the guy and we knew going into the offseason that will DAW and said look the only untouch guy is B kabali so I wasn’t so surprised that the move happened it’s just the sequence of it you know we still got landre sham we gotta move tyus Jones can we sign a trade him that’s a big question Kyle kusman at what point do you move him and I feel like that you had to off you know offload your veteran contracts before you move a 23y old guy who again has gotten better every single year so yeah I’m one of those guys I wasn’t very happy at all um I was very shocked but really happy and but but then I get it because he wasn’t untradeable and we got two first round picks so I I get the move it’s just it’s hard to see a 23y old guy who again we drafted we developed him and we signed him to exension and we’re finally seeing P when it comes to him breaking out so yeah especially because for first of all it’s like if you had pick the Wizards forward that was going to like effective Wizards forward who would be traded this summer um Kyle was the guy like everybody thought kozma was a goner right he was the one who was going to be trade at the deadline but he has to stay and now he’s back and okay now he blah blah blah blah it’s like Denny and C K’s outlasted Denny it’s pretty uh pretty surprising and then the Wizards have such an interesting and I’ll be short history They Don’t Really sign many draft picks to Second contracts right it’s it’s so few it’s like Otto Porter Jr and Denny and then Denny ABIA never plays a single second on that contract like he’s gonna play he’ll begin it this year in Portland um what did you think about the hall uh it is the 14th pick in the draft that that turned into to bub Carrington my bub Carrington cool name because it’s it’s it’s bub but Carlton Carrington III is a mouthful that is a full name Carlton Carrington I third is a i no wonder he’s goes by bub you know why he goes by bub because his granddad calls him bub because he Carlton the first um but the 14th pick in the draft uh which became bub Carrington uh a 2029 pick that’s going to be the middle of three picks from the Blazers and two two future seconds along with Malcolm Brogden what did you think of that as like a as a package for Denny from the from the Wizards perspective I mean not a bad Hall I mean we actually did better than you know uh with the dejonte Murray trade and we actually got more value out of Denny U so it’s not a bad Hall 14th pick bub Carrington again the name is definitely you know you definitely got to practice the name but I mean he’s a local product you know he’s a cousin of Ry a former NBA player Rudy Gay he’s from the Baltimore area so um he’s definitely a local product he can play I mean we’re looking for that future point guard because looking at Jordan P I like Jordan P very high on Jordan P but you look at the contract you look at the timeline his contract doesn’t really line up with the timeline of the three to four years of a rebuild so he’s definitely a player that we’re looking to get value out of the eventually move on from and both Carson could be that point guard of the future because the wizard have shown that when we’re a team that pushes the pace last year the second half of the Season we’re number one in Pace and that’s what Jordan P pushing the pace and if you look at bub Caron he can push the pace he can shoot he can move um so he definitely checks the boxes for the point guard position in the future because we’re looking at the Wizards there’s two things to look at number one the model is modeled after OKC will talkers goes back to Oklahoma City you know they’re doing three things bringing in young bringing a lot of picks young assets and they’re bringing in either bad contracts or veteran contracts to eventually flip at the deadline looking at valunas looking at Kaku looking you know so that’s the model you a lot of the moves they making are future moves they’re not moves that necessarily going to contribute right away and that fits because if you look at the draft experts are down is draft why because a lot of talent are not guys GNA be able to start right away and contribute right away this was the perfect draa draft draft for team like the Wizards who are looking to develop and look for talent down the road yeah it’s it’s like if there’s ever a team that could say okay this is a team RI you know a draft rich with role players but they’re not like they’re going to be bad the Wizards are like tight like that that sounds great for like what a what a perfect timing that’s that’s a good point on Valen Tunis I hadn’t considered that um I hadn’t listened to your to your JV show I did listen to your Denny show but I hadn’t listened to the JV show so I didn’t know yeah but that’s a great point it’s like $10 million a year that’s a flipable contract he makes sense like if if he’s not on the team in April it’s not going to surprise anybody not on the team in March it’s not going to surprise anybody um so yeah I I think my initial reaction to the trade was like wow that’s pretty steep for Denny abdia um I think it speaks to how little value Malcolm Brogden had as a standalone trade piece um maybe the Wizards will end up getting something for him but it’s like I think the the reporting had been like oh the Blazers hope to get a late first round pick hopefully for Brogden it’s like he was basically just the salary to make it work you know he’s just the salary to make it work and then then and kind of cleans up some of the Blazers guard heavy rotation stuff and Denny is like a position of need they definitely need um good talented young wings um okay so you mentioned that he’s homegrown right he’s he’s he’s a a 2020 firstr draft pick he’s a guy who like got better every single year I I want to talk about kind of um where have you seen him grow like what has been from day one to you know the end of year four where the biggest area of growth for Denny ABIA I would say the biggest growth for Denny was when Brian Keef took over from uh Westell Jr because with Denny there’s two big things like look at with Denny confidence and fit you know when he first came into the league we had Scotty Brooks he wasn’t utilizing the way he wanted he should have which Denny’s a guy who has Vision he can pass I mean he’s a guy who you definitely looked at him to be your secondary ball Hammer I mean he’s a guy who had times you know when you overlap the first and second units he’s a guy who can bring the ball up he can get creative he can find guys he can definitely make guys around him better um but name of the game and so early on uh didn’t he really fought with a lot of confidence because again he wasn’t really being utilized the way he should have and Westell Jr very very stagnant with his lineups you know he didn’t change lineups he didn’t really game plan he didn’t really make any kind of adjustments Brian Keef kind of looked at it like all right we got a guy who’s very young he can pass three-point shot is getting better you know he’s looking to be more of a weapon on the offensive end defensively came in the league very good Defender already right I mean know he was the guy who he was pretty much guarding the best player on the other team so he’s always been a really good Defender but the question mark with him was always can he contribute on offensive end and can he be you know a high confidence player where he can kind of have a you know chip on the shoulder and be a dog player and he was starting to show signs of that I mean his three-point shot got a lot better faster fluid he got more confidence in the shot he was attacking the basket attacking the basket with power dunking on people um obviously there’s things he needs to work on left hand mid-range shot is definitely something he needs to work on counter moves because you know guys once you become more of a weapon officer in look Defender is going to take notice of that so he’s got to learn how to do counter moves and and go from there but he’s a very high upside player because like I said I was very surprised because on one hand I get it will Dawkins you you got your guy in Bow you build around that guy and I get that but then being a new GM I don’t understand the concept you don’t have to move one from guys that are already on the roster right so and also like every every team needs like I I mean I I guess like I don’t want to like overstate like Denny is Jason Tatum right I don’t want to not I’m not trying I’m not trying to do that but like every team needs a 6’8 6’9 forward who can dribble pass and shoot that’s a really valuable type of player in the NBA the Celtics just demolished the league with a whole stable of dribble pass and shoot dudes about that you know in the 66 plus range I guess they got a couple guards in that but like but that’s the model right like um I I I I am I guess I’m I’m just I’m so curious by it I want to ask you a little bit more about sort of why the Wizards did this and more about how you see um a Denny’s Denny’s growth uh we’ll do that in the second segment as we continue to talk all things AIA and Portland join us in that second segment won’t you first though I want to tell you that Today’s Show is brought to you by game time it’s the place for last minute tickets it rewards you for procrastinating and guess what if you’re in Portland and 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talking all things Denny Okay so is for for my f my listeners my fans I don’t I don’t know that I have fans I have I have I have listeners for sure fans has probably taking it too far for my listeners what what how would you describe Denny in like two sentences what type of player is he oh man that’s that’s a good question two two sentences um because I’m very high on him um he’s a very versatile guy very versatile player I mean he’s a Swiss army knife when it comes to basketball I mean he’s a guy who can guard one to five again he can he’s a secondary ball handler he’s a guy who can definitely shoot a three-point shot definitely want to see him at that mid-range really become more of a weapon I mean he’s shown the ability to attack the B kid finish to traffic finish through contact which still has been issues in the past with him but you know he’s a guy who dating back to his time with makab Tel Aviv he’s a guy who’s improved every single year in the NBA every year he’s been a better player the next year and so another thing to really bring up with Den AIA is work ethic a guy who works constantly guy who’s always trying to get better so as you can tell I’m very high on D because you know the wizard as you mentioned earlier the Wizards aren’t known for developing Talent then resigning them so I’ve been able to watch him since day one and and watch a guy grow you know play through different systems so you’re getting a good one you really are he’s very versatile you know he can play the two three four and like I said he can guard all the way five through five because you know this last year we had a lot of Center death issues so you we saw Denny we saw Kyle K playing small ball five so he’s a guy who you know obviously your first choice at five but he’s a guy who can hold his home because I personally watched him shut down not shut down because you don’t shut down jiannis vage um Anthony Koo got me names here but um but the Greek Freak is is a guy that I personally watch him kind of really put the clamps on to a certain degree so he’s a guy who’s a high level defender in my opinion a guy who very well could be an an all defensive team in my opinion because that’s how good he is and that’s why he fits so well in DC because when you paired him with B kulali who is again another defensive player it’s like you know we’re trying to get better with athleticism we’re trying to have more versatility and then you have two guys who are young and they both defend at the high level and you want to be a defensive team so to move on from him just I I just don’t you know I didn’t understand it and even now I’m trying to take the high road and and look at it like all right you know it is what it is you know this is why he did it you know try to look towards the future for the Wizards because it’s gonna be a long road but in my heart I’m I’m still not a big fan of the deal yeah four picks you’re like okay two first two first and and I think there’s a chance that that 2029 first so it’s the Blazers have um three picks in that draft they have their own they have the Bucks and they have the Celtics um remnants of the Damen Lillard and then Drew holiday swaps um it’s the SEC it’s the middle of those two picks it’s the second most favorable pretty good chance that the Bucks are not very good in 2029 they’re an older team you know janisan Duo is 30 I don’t mean to say that 30y olds are old um C certainly younger than both of us um but like um but he’s you know he’s he’s a someone who relies on athleticism so there’s you know there’s a chance that he’s that when we’re like five years down the road he’s a very different player at 35 Dam Lords you know 34 is going to be older older on that ends obviously Chris Middleton Brook Brook Lopez is Brook Lopez gonna be in the league or on the Bucks in 20129 right like you’re gonna be a different basketball team there’s a chance that’s a really good pick the Blazers are far enough away that it’s really hard to tell how good they’ll be in 2029 but the chances that they’re one of the elite teams five years from now seems pretty unlikely um they might be a good team right they might be a good team the hope is that five years from now they’re legitimately competitive team but like the idea that they’re one of the four or five best teams in the NBA it’s pretty hard to predict from where they sit right now the Celtics are really good I think it’s fair to say the Celtics could be really good in five years too still probably um but I think there’s a chance that Portland and the Bucs picks are pretty juicy for them I think I think it ends up being at least like I think the middle pick it’s a safe bet that it’s a pick in the teens could be useful five years from now to have a second pick in the teens if you’re the wizards but like that ain’t Denny AIA next year that’s not Denny AIA in the fall it’s a little bit different so I I tot I totally get what you’re saying where it’s like yeah I can talk myself into it and and second round picks are gonna have value for expensive teams and blah blah blah blah blah but it’s like it’s not quite him in the fall um okay you mentioned two things I want to talk skill set wise a little bit one is the shooting as a rookie Dan Avia shot 31% from from three as second year 30 1% from three we could Round Up in both those years and call it 32 his third season in the league he shot 30% from three it’s like uhoh he’s getting worse then last year 37.4% from three an Elite Corner three-point shooter what changed you mentioned like the mechanics was there an obvious change in kind of how he shot the ball yeah I mean it was work EIC I mean the Wizards fans in and the fan in organization thought we were actually going to get a better product the year before because he was working out with Drew hanlin who’s a guy who’s known to work with guys the shots and as you as you mentioned his shot actually got worse but yeah you know which was surprising but you know this year he put it all together with a shot you know his release was faster that was the biggest problem with the shot was he had a slow release you know more of a choreograph release so defenses knew when he was gonna let it off and and when they did show attention to it with his shot because a lot of time people just let him shoot and so it’s just been a you know his release being slow was the biggest issue when he got a fast release and when he showed confidence people started paying attention because he started knocking him down and knock him down with regularity so um with him you know with when it comes to his shots just work e you’re getting a guy who works his butt off you know he’s a guy who tries to get better and that’s the biggest thing about Denny but also his fit you know Brian Keith while I’m big big on him being now the new head coach of the Wizards because not only is he known as a developmental coach because you know Denny is a guy who still needs to be developed he’s still young you know so we were still developing him and even look at guys on a roster like Jordan P we’re still developing even though you know he’s got that championship ring he’s got that experience going back the Golden State but he’s at his age and where he F signl he’s still developing so they were able to find the best spot for him as far as game planning you know he’s drawing plays for him now obviously a lot of plays went to kman and Jordan P but that’s why I say secondary ball handler where you saw him working with a second unit at times kind of overlapping and bringing the ball up getting guys active so you know just having another thing to look at too is transition he can move right okay yeah I was going to ask you about that there you go I mean with a team that wants to push the pace he’s the guy who you know with his basketball IQ he’s able to make those decisions and transition whether he’s the primary ball handler or even he’s a guy on the on the wing he’s a guy that knows where you know where to put his body so if your team that wants to push Pace he’s a guy that’s going to really really be good for your team because the Wizards were able to get him very very involved in transition not only working with tan with Jordan P but when he was the ball handler you know Finding guys on the outside you know attacking the basket and claps in the defense and utilizing outside Shooters so you know he biggest attribute outside of defense and obviously offensive skill point is his IQ and his ability to pass the ball yeah I I think his decision- making is pretty good in the half court I think sometimes his his his shooting has held him back right it’s like you said yeah they said they daring him to shoot it’s like okay it’s hard to be a really good playmaker without um when when folks are sagging off you and daring you to shoot and saying like hey go for it dog it’s hard to like it’s hard to get and he’s a guy he’s a slasher right it’s hard to get into the paint and and and make people pay if they’re like yeah walk us down to 19 feet we’re not scared like um and I think the shooting really opens things up especially if he’s you know he killed it from the corners he shot a 48% from three from the corners his above above the break shooting not great but like if you could space him to the corners and then he can also play fast in in transition I think that’s really valuable the Blazers want to play fast they want to they haven’t done it they were one of the bottom teams in the league in Pace this season but in theory the next good version of the Blazers that play that is going to play very fast scoot Henderson wants to play Fast shanon Sharp’s goingon to be really good in transition uh Denny’s goingon to be really impressive in transition Jeremy Grant maybe doesn’t want to run for his offense but he can run like he is fast he’s capable of running and da for like a center deand drton for a center is pretty good end to end um he doesn’t always do it but he’s like for somewhat his size he’s pretty Fleet of foot end to end so like they have the parts to play very very fast um they just haven’t been able to do it in part because um they aren’t a very good defensive team and it’s hard to run it’s hard to run you don’t get stops but they improved on defense for sure um you know the overall numbers don’t suggest it but I think with your eyeballs you could tell okay I got a couple more questions about about Denny and also kind of how he was used in the second half of the Season you mentioned it a couple times and I think that maybe is kind of how he can fit in with the Blazers join us in that third segment we’ll talk all about Denny’s Fitz won’t you oh right still a pass first point guard I’m still Mike Rich I’m still chatting here with Brandon Scott the host of lockdown wizard still talking Denny so the second half of the season when things kind of changed for Denny it seems like and this is you would know more than me because I probably watched like two and a half Wizards games um but but uh like it seems like he got the ball in his hands more um is that is that do is that something you saw just like Denny with Denny with more opportunities to be a decision maker the second half of the Year absolutely I mean you net it perfectly you know giving him the opportunity to be that playmaker and utilize his best byq really helped him break out I think sure because you like I me mentioned when he came in the league it was under Scotty Brooks so you know they they had Savage veterans and uh rally bill at the time SPI Dy at the time um no that was a year after no it was Russell Westbrook which you know he did get you know he did see that transitional game with Russell Westbrook and Bradley Bill because they were a team you know Russ likes to push the pace so um he did you saw glimpses of Denny but he didn’t really break out to this year because they found the right spot the right system the right coach and the right way to play him you know early on with a guy with no shot it’s it’s tough to be a three and D Wing when you only got the D part of the three and D you know what I’m saying so um that was the big issue with Denny is it was his fit to the system of westone Jr where like I said I’m not gonna kick him man wise down but westone Jr was known notoriously as having a very stagnant lineup he didn’t he didn’t change lineup very often you know he didn’t game plan like you know for example if you played Cleveland if you want to go taller he was rolling the same lineup out there you know where you want to kind of counteract Evan Mobley and Jared Allen right um so Brian ke was able to find the best way to utilize him and he did that a lot of players and you know if you look at Jordan P look we all know how Jordan P did in the first half last season I mean he he got smoked phenomenally from every us major sports network probably from Sports network is overseas man but how how he was able to kind of be a better play in the second half was BR ke said look what was his role in Golden State six-man put him in the six man let him dictate the pace on the second unit and let him cook on the second unit because you know we saw that with him and tus Jones it was undersiz and really a bad defensive line or back court so when it was time for him to start when tyus Jones went down he was able to fit right into that row and look you saw a better player so it’s the same with Denny aat man you know when he was able to use that basketball IQ you know roll in transition and really use his passing to set guys up and he he was money is he can he play like I don’t think he’ll play full-time point forward but can he play like stretches like could he take over a second unit as the primary Creator type of guy do you see him having that level of skill oh absolutely you know I advocated before he got traded my my vision for him for the Wizards this year was being the secondary ball hanger you know obviously you’re not looking at him to be the the permanent point forward you know depend on where we go point guard right now look at joyan pool but it’s whole the story um but he’s a guy that you know I advocated for this I said look you utilize Denny as a secondary ball Hammer he’s a guy who you have to utilize that you gotta guy have a guy that can set people up and that that’s rare with a 69ine guy I mean he’s very fast on his feet his decision making is is crisp he’s right on it um so you to utilize that so that would be the best fit definitely use him in tanem which your starting point guard and especially the backup point guard as far as responsibilities but absolutely you overlap the first second un the minutes and you use him as as secondary ball hounder for sure yeah that that’s kind of my vision of is that he gets a little bit of those secondary M like the minutes where the Blazers have a lot of guards right now so it’s kind of but they don’t have a ton of dudes who can dribble like they just don’t they just like don’t have a ton of like dribble pass shoot guys and so Denny is going to have some of those responsibilities but my thinking is like it’s going to either be scooter ay Simons um in the starting lineup as a starting point guard assuming anrey Simon still on the team he’s still on the team as a recording this so I’m going to assume he’s still on the team uh and um you know if and and because they lost Malcolm brogs and they’re just going to need more ball handlers right they and and I think getting Denny not as like the okay he’s the point guard from the jump but in those second units you know four and a half minutes in the second quarter four and a half minutes at the end of the third and open the fourth to like get him those chances I think I think fits the other concern or excuse me concerned I have about the Blazers they’re what awful defensive rebounding team um and it hurt them they give up a ton of Second Chance points is Denny a good enough rebounder to be like a I don’t know full-time four but to get away with playing mostly like minutes where he is a power forward do you think he can rebound at that level absolutely absolutely you know that was one thing I really liked about him this previous season was he got ined got rebounds you know he knows how to get it you know his body in there and definitely especially offensive rebounds no rebounding was not an issue which I’m with you man look with the wizard we were so bad and on defense I mean we were bad on every aspect of Defense transition defense I mean perimeter defense interior def we were just bad and the same thing we’re rebounding we got we were so bad that when we acquired Marvin Begley the third we got better so it shows you kind of how dire we were but which I do like Marvin back third you know it’s not trying to kick him on the way down but um Denny’s a guy who yes he’s gonna get there and reers rebound numbers going to be really up there and I expect him to get better than his time with Washington because that’s one area I love about Denny is that he he has no problem going in there and and battling out in the paint so he’s like I said he’s very versatile I think that it if you could use one word for him is versatily in so many ways not just as far as defensively or offensively it’s just how he contributes you he contributes across the board so yeah I’m excited about him because I think he has that um I think he has a positional versatility to fit with a lot of the Blazers different looks um like I think he day one I assume he’s the starting small forward it would be really weird if he wasn’t right like I think they traded for him to be the starting small forward um depending on sort of what happens with with the rest of their summer we’re recording this in early July so it might not hold up until not might not make it to the end of the month but we’ll we’ll see um like I expect him to be a starting small forward but he could play next to Jeremy Grant totally fine and then when the Blazers you know I think Tani kamaro will be their uh forward main forward Off the Bench and he’s he’s kind of a he struggles a little bit on offense but um as because he’s just like hasn’t improved as a shooter very much but I think Denny with some playmaking skills can allow T Mone to play off the ball maybe run some pick and rolls forward forward type of fun pick and rolls and then then they can run and and I think that works and I think he could play with the guards because the corner three-point shooting allows him to play with scoot because he’s gonna have to space because you gotta get out scoot needs a lot of space my man doesn’t shoot he needs a lot of space to help him get to the rim um and Denny Denny should help there and then if he plays with amrey Simons amre Simons can either play on the ball or off the ball and then and then you get Denny there I I like versatility I I I I think that has real value um when the Wizards signed him to this contract and this is the last one I’ll get to you what was your like this is a was it did it it seems like an unbelievably good deal right now did it seem obviously to be a good deal when the extension happened or were you were like oh that’s a lot of money for Denny what was you like if you could rewind back to when that happened what was your thoughts there oh no I thought it was a really good deal because I mean if you look at the market value it’s well below I mean he was he was I mean great value out of the contract which is another reason why you know I I was very questionable about the trade because you’re looking at a guy on the contract that is so good it’s ridiculous I mean if you look at Kyle kman and right now there’s you like anything else in the world now but there’s a big divide as far as Denny and Kyle kman because sure you know KY K and Denny with both of them it’s like either you like him you don’t fans can be pretty tribal fans can be pretty tribal yes and you know the biggest thing with KY kman and I’m a guy like I like both of them you know there’s been times where I’ve interviewed both of them man I think both of them are really good guys really good players but um the biggest thing with kusman where a lot of people don’t want to move him is that oh he’s got a team fly deal my argument was oh look at Diddy’s deal I mean yeah I mean how do you argue that you know how do you really I mean his deal was even less than Kyle kman so I get the timeline like I said I I I didn’t like the trade I still don’t I get it I guess when it comes to timeline but because I guess they don’t want to pay guys before they pay like bow or Alex har because sure you’re looking at you know three to four years you’re looking to start signing guys and blow is going to be the first guy up so do you want to you know have money on the books you know looking at the you know the three main vets in the roster right now as far as their salaries and timeline they’re all three-year deals and there’s a reason for that because in three years below’s gonna be your first guy off for reassigning to a rookie scale extension so Jordan P three years left KY kman three years left I mean Jonas valunas three years I mean even his contract three years10 million doll a year is is a no brain I mean yeah it’s valued you know so they’re looking at setting up a lot of key parts of with the rebuild entails right culture you know Brian Keef established culture last year mentoring his young players you know big reason to you know Malcolm Brockton is valued to a certain degree in DC’s we understand that his injury history you know I’m one of those guys like I’m Ley about his injury history but his leadership is what I like because you know we need you know we need to work with Jordan P because if he’s going to be the point guard in the future he’s got to learn the other intrical parts of being a point guard he’s very Score first you know looking at valunas he’s going to provide a lot of mentorship for that so um yeah look get back at the trade I I’m still not a fan but I get it if that makes sense you know yeah I I think the one sort of weird Wrinkle in all of this this is like CBA nonsense but maybe not nonsense but a little Deep In The Weeds uh it was pointed out to me by Keith Smith of spot track.com Denny’s deal is so good he’s going to be hard to resign that’s that’s how cheap his deal is so it’s declining every year um it’s going to hit 11 and a half million in the final year of his contract and the rule is that you’re only allowed to give him a 40% raise well by then in four years and the in it’ll he’ll be way he’ll like it’s going to be very very challenging and we saw this uh we we saw this with uh with how it worked with Derk Jones Jr and a couple other places where it’s like you uh Isaiah hartenstein in in in New York it’s like they gave him they said how about four years for 72 million and he was like I mean cool but I can get $88 million over here because they gave him as much as they could because he had such a team friendly deal they literally couldn’t based on the rules um that’s a long way away for the Blazers that’s like a concern for um if I’m still doing this podcast in four years that’s a concern for a much older Mike Richmond but I I do think that’s like but Denny is like Denny is such a good deal like he’s his contract is such a good deal it’ll actually make him harder to retain which is like a funny what a funny world the like the NBA is um if you get paid you get paid so little you have to go get a new job in a new city um but not that I’d be cool with1 million if they want to Fork that over for the for the lock on podcast Network I’m down um yeah uh maybe lock on Wizards is doing really well U I don’t know I haven’t seen it but um Brandon thanks so much for joining the program it was a whole bunch of fun to have you oh anytime man like I said it’s always fun man so anytime uh maybe I’ll come join you over on lockon Wizards and we’ll talk about this from the revers perspective how’s that sound that sounds like a deal man let’s get it all right uh listeners if you haven’t uh check out Brandon’s work over at lockon wizard does a great job he uh he had your reaction to the Denny trade and all of those things and uh maybe you’ll see a familiar face over there on the program later this week uh dear listeners come back tomorrow five days a week wherever you get Podcast and also on YouTube free on all your platforms tell your friends about the program I appreciate you listening I’ll talk to you soon [Music]

Brandon Scott of Locked On Wizards joins the show to discuss the Deni Avdija trade.

Initial thoughts on the trade, why the Wizards made the move, and how Deni fits with the Trail Blazers in the present and future

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