When Tommy Sheppard made the decision to select Deni Avdija with the ninth overall pick in the 2020 draft less than a year ago, the organization had a sense that he would not necessarily be an immediate starter but fell in love with his potential. Entering his second NBA season, Avdija is learning and adapting to the reality that perfection is not going to come in a blink of an eye no matter how hard he works or strives. That has been an important lesson the 20-year old is starting to understand entering his sophomore year.

“It fluctuates and I think that’s the mark once again of a young player,” head coach Wes Unseld Jr. began when asked about Avdija’s readiness. “Some days he’s really dialed in, he’s got it, you feel like he’s on the same page, other days he looks a little lost. I think that’s just the natural maturation a young player has to go through. For him, it’s stay in the moment. I think sometimes he gets so obsessed with what he perceives as a pass/failure that it affects his next shot, affects the next play. So now, you can’t bypass that, you got to learn from those mistakes, but you can’t dwell on it and I think it’s important for him to understand you have to have that next shot mentality. If there’s a problem, understand what the problem is, fix it and move on.”

It is said so often that it almost sounds like a cliche, but the NBA game slows down for young players as they get more and more experience. They start to recognize different schemes on both ends of the floor, they can sense the tendencies of their opponents, and they have a greater understanding of their own team’s concepts. All of that can be exponentially harder for a young man living his first year in a new continent. With so many new players and coaches added to the organization, there has been a heightened emphasis compared to past seasons for the roster to develop bonds and friendships outside of basketball that is already paying dividends for Avdija.

“The people next to me that I love, they always tell me, it doesn’t come right away,” Avdija shared. I’m still getting in a rhythm, I’m still coming back from injury. The first practice or the first game that I came back, I was expecting to be like better than what I remember before I got injured, but it doesn’t happen in a second. Eventually, it will but I was rushing to be faster, stronger than what I was and it shouldn’t be like that. I should grind slowly and be patient with my stuff and be better every day.”

Wes Unseld Jr. is known for his meticulous attention to detail, but also as a leader of men because of his personable relationships whether you are the franchise player or the 15th man on the roster. Case in point, he was rebounding for training camp invites days before they would inevitably be waived and likely headed to the Wizards’ G League team, the Capital City Go-Go. The first-year head coach has high expectations for Avdija and will be a great asset to his development.

“He’s gonna have a bigger role,” Unseld predicted. “I want to see his minutes see an uptick. I want him to be able to play late-game situations if necessary, but he’s not there yet. So he’s going to have to earn those minutes and nothing is given. I think he’s well on his way to doing that, but I want to see him get out of his box a little bit. He came in as a shot-maker, playmaker, and didn’t get an opportunity to do so much last season so get him the ball, see where he can help us.”

Deni Avdija gets a deflection that leads to a steal and then able to get a tip in

The game certainly rewards effort pic.twitter.com/47uFFSYIG0

— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) October 21, 2021

In the Wizards’ season-opening win in Toronto, Deni Avdija was the first player off the bench substituting in for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at the small forward position. In 21 minutes, Avdija was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field including a 3-pointer and free throw totaling 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals with a +13 in the plus-minus category. Avdija knows how to pick his spots offensively and will only continue to get better defensively under Unseld once getting comfortable in the system. As expected based on his diligent upbringing with Veljko Perovic, Avdija is taking the necessary steps to understand the new coaching philosophies and concepts as soon as possible.

“There were some practices that I got confused and I didn’t run the play good or I did some stuff that I shouldn’t do on defense or offense,” Avdija honestly assessed. “After practice, I stay and I figure out why I did this stuff. Not just, ‘ah whatever I’m going to figure it out next practice.’ I’m trying to learn. At the same time, you’re playing so you don’t really have time to stop and ask a lot of questions, but I’m always staying after practice and asking the coaches to help me out and how I figure that out. I’m really trying to master all the positions that I am probably going to play in the game because I know if I’m at the 1 or guarding the 2 or I’m guarding the 4, how I’m playing the best at that position.”

“Yesterday after the practice, me and Anthony Gill stayed and we brought three more coaches to run all our plays. So we’re really taking that seriously, we really want to be perfect,” Avdija shared about an anecdote that he did not have to if he wanted to wrap up his media availability quicker.

Kyle Kuzma up ahead to Deni Avdija back to Kyle Kuzma, ball is moving moving pic.twitter.com/53DiuRXucm

— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) October 21, 2021

With Rui Hachimura still slowly working himself back into basketball shape and getting caught up to speed with Unseld’s system after missing all of training camp and preseason for excused personal reasons, the Wizards will rely on Avdija more early in the season to guard opposing forwards. This will give Avdija more of an opportunity to guard the likes of Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, John Collins, and more. We will see how Avdija fairs and he may have his share of understandable struggles, but I predict it will be an encouraging litmus test. Momentum and confidence are powerful tools for sports teams that can spread all around, which could help accelerate Avdija’s developing quest for perfection.

“We have a lot of confidence in Deni and I want him to have as much confidence in himself as we do in him,” Unseld summarized.

Deni Avdija from 3 gives the Wizards a nice lead pic.twitter.com/6DgTI4YcVS

— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) October 21, 2021