4/2: Deni hits the wall

Now what?

Deni hit the rookie wall. He’s put up a couple more zero-point performances since last week. He looks lost on the floor. His minutes have become sporadic — now he starts, now he plays 11 minutes — and he still rarely touches the ball. I’m going to let other people do the talking. Here’s the Wizards’ blog @BulletsForever weighing in on how disastrously mismanaged Deni’s rookie season has been so far.

Bullets Forever @BulletsForever

Reminder that prior to being benched to "activate" Bertans, Deni had a TS% of 59% and a +/- of +1.1 in 11 starts. He flashed shooting, some playmaking, and defense. He is struggling for sure, but he flashed the ability to play.

And here’s Giri Nathan at the sports blog Defector in a post titled “There Has To Be A Better Way To Develop A Bad Rookie” (the rookie the title refers to is the Knicks’ Obi Toppin):

Our suffering Wizards pals report the same frustration watching Deni Avdija, a feisty playmaker with bright flashes early in the season, grow dispirited and gather dust 27 feet from the hoop while Russell Westbrook achieves self-actualization: under-50 percent true-shooting, over-30 percent usage rate. So while some of the developmental challenge might have to do with the small-mindedness of coaches and front offices, some of it might have to do with the way basketball is played now. Modern heliocentric offenses keep the ball in the hands of a lone decision maker like Randle or Westbrook, which creates, in the negative space, that newfangled position called “just sort of stand over there.”

It’s generally accepted that circumstance is critical to an NBA player’s trajectory. But figuring out how much of a player’s struggles are the result of his situation is hard. Look, Deni is shooting poorly, there’s no way around that. An open shot has to be made no matter what team you’re playing for. What’s not his fault is his inability to showcase all the other positive things he can do while he’s missing those shots. More and more frequently his shifts on court are coming up empty. Like Giri said, that’s because his role in Scott Brooks’/Russell Westbrook’s offense is “stand around and wait for the pass.”

Vegas VeRed ורד @peachbuttercup

@BulletsForever You're right on the money. Any fan that expects a rookie to save a whole franchise is whack. Everyone has one foot out the door. Brooks knows he's not coming back. Fans wanted BB to go to a contender. You can't grow in that environment or play w/joy. No trust

I’ll add one more reminder, which is that Deni got coronavirus this year and that this whole year is hella weird because of Covid. In a different environment he’d be in greater control of his own circumstances.

The Jews were in slavery for 430 years. Deni will be out of this funk sooner than that.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,

Louis

PS Read my oral history of Yeshiva University’s 36-game win streak over at The Forward.