Deni Avdija had quite the roller coaster over the past week for the Washington Wizards as both he and the team try to find their footing still early in the 2022-23 NBA season. Avdija led with a high of stellar defense on the road in Philadelphia integral to the Wizards’ important win amid a three-game losing streak, but then Washington had a franchise-worst 42-point home loss to the Brooklyn Nets after Kyrie Irving was suspended. The third-year forward would then return to the starting lineup in Memphis and Charlotte, but did not have much success offensively, despite better effort from Washington as a whole.

The Wizards were reeling after a home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last Monday in a game they probably should have won with Joel Embiid sidelined with a non-Covid illness. It led to veteran center Taj Gibson chewing out his teammates immediately after the game in the locker room, but for at least one game it resulted in a strong showing at the 76ers on Wednesday. Avdija’s primary defensive assignment was fellow 2020 first-round draft pick Tyrese Maxey who he held to 1-for-5 shooting from the field, while also holding James Harden (0-for-3) and Tobias Harris (1-for-3) to inefficient shooting nights. The cherry on top was Avdija tying his career-high with 3 blocks.

Deni Avdija monster block 🙅‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/CWaE6FF7QE

— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) November 2, 2022

“I love it, he was locked in,” Kristaps Porzingis said about his chess buddy Avdija after the win at 76ers on Wednesday. “He always plays hard, but he played extremely hard today. Went for blocks, steals, and was smarter. Was not over-eager except for a couple situations, but that comes with experience. He’s going to gain that by being out there in important moments and important games. He’s was doing what he’s supposed to, making the right pass, making the right play and he has to keep going like this and I absolutely love what I see from him.”

“It’s a challenge, it’s kind of a test in a way,” Bradley Beal reasoned about Avdija’s move out of the starting lineup. “Coach kind of tested him just to see if he would get a positive response out of him. And he did. Deni comes in with a lot more energy, a lot more focus, ready to guard and ready to make plays. Sometimes you have to do those things as a coach, you got to do something to light a fire under your team, light a fire under your players. Deni was ok with it. I’m sure he probably felt a way initially, but it’s a team game at the end of the day and he’s very supportive of it. I’m happy of his growth for sure and he’ll just continue to be better because we need him.”

Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving was suspended for a minimum of five games by his organization on Thursday for promoting an anti-Semitic film and not immediately denouncing such opinions despite plenty of opportunities with the media. It would have been a more poetic justice if the suspension began after Avdija, the NBA’s only current Jewish player, had a chance to lock him up on defense with the Wizards hosting the Nets last Friday. But instead, Kevin Durant led a re-focused Brooklyn team to a second-half beat down of his hometown team.

Avdija would return to the starting lineup for a road back-to-back in Memphis and Charlotte with Bradley Beal sidelined in health and safety protocols after testing positive for Covid on Saturday and Anthony Gill dealing with a stomach bug. Although encouraging to see Avdija looking for his shot more with 12 field goal attempts against the Grizzlies, the Israeli continued to struggle from beyond the arc. After knocking down his first two 3-pointers of the season, he has proceeded to make just 3 of his next 21 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc. With the emergence of two-way contracted Jordan Goodwin who had a perfect 7-for-7 shooting game in Monday’s win at Charlotte, Avdija saw just 18 minutes and one made bucket although it was a pleasant coast-to-coast rebound and dunk in transition.

deni went coast-to-coast 🥶 pic.twitter.com/aYCSCrbPnO

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) November 8, 2022

Washington opens a six-game homestand on Thursday against Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie’s Dallas Mavericks followed by the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat, and Charlotte Hornets. Avdija will be expected to spend time guarding the likes of Doncic, Jordan Clarkson, Ja Morant, Jimmy Butler, and others over that stretch.