Washington Wizards selected Deni Avdija (pronounced Denny AHV-dee-uh) from Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) with the ninth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Avdija, a 6-9, 225-pound forward, becomes the highest-drafted Israeli player in NBA history. He averaged 18.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.4 blocks and 2.1 steals to earn MVP honors at the 2019 FIBA U-20 European Championships and helped Israel win the gold medal in back-to-back FIBA U-20 European Championships in 2018 and 2019.
“We were absolutely thrilled to get the opportunity to select Deni at the ninth pick and add his versatility, toughness and effort on the defensive end to our roster,” said Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard. “While he is a young player who is still developing, he has great experience playing at a high level both professionally and in international competition.”
Avdija has played professionally the last three seasons with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He averaged 12.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 26.6 minutes in 2019-20 Israeli League play, shooting .555 overall from the field while ranking third in two-point percentage (.673) and 21st in three-point percentage (.375). Avdija was named MVP of Basketball Without Borders Europe in 2018 and the BWB Global Camp in 2019 and earned All-Event honors at the 2018-19 EuroLeague Next Generation Tournament while playing for Maccabi’s Under-18 team.
“I love Deni’s competitive spirit and feel for the game and I’m excited to help him continue to improve when we begin camp in a few weeks,” said Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks. “His toughness and overall skill set will allow us to use him in multiple lineups and allow him to seamlessly blend in with our team.”
The youngest player to ever play for Maccabi’s Senior Team (debuting at 16 years, 320 days), Avdija played with several former NBA players during his tenure, including Amar’e Stoudemire, Omri Casspi, Quincy Acy and Tarik Black. His father, Zufer, won bronze at the 1982 FIBA Basketball World Championship with Yugoslavia and was a pro in Serbia and Israel in the 1980’s and 1990’s while his mother, Sharon Artzi, is a former championship runner.
Washington Wizards announced today that they have acquired the draft rights to Cassius Winston (53rd overall pick out of Michigan State) and Memphis’ 2024 second round pick (which was owned by Oklahoma City) from the Thunder in exchange for the rights to Vit Krejci (37th overall pick) and Admiral Schofield.
Winston, a 6-1, 205-pound guard, averaged 18.6 points and 5.9 assists per game as a senior and 18.8 points and 7.5 assists per game as a junior at Michigan State to earn All-America Second Team honors in both seasons, All-Big Ten honors as a senior and Big Ten Player of the Year honors as a junior. He is one of four players in NCAA D-I history to record at least 1,900 points and 850 assists and finished his career with 894 assists, the most in Big Ten and Michigan State history, while leading the Spartans to the 2019 Final Four.
“Cassius has a proven resume and is a tremendous leader whose tough, unselfish style will allow him to develop within our system,” said Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard. “This trade brings us a player we had targeted in addition to acquiring a future second round pick and potentially freeing up a roster spot to bring in a player who can help us immediately.”
