Immediately following his perfect shooting preseason debut, Deni Avdija wanted to pump the brakes on the idea that such a performance would be the norm. Understandably so. Avdija was slightly discouraged and even defensive after his second preseason game where his shot did not fall as well, but part of that exemplifies how much he cares and how much he strives for greatness. It is far to early to say Avdija will be an All-Star or Hall of Fame player, but the Washington Wizards are already enamored with the early returns on their 2020 first-round pick.

“He played magnificent,” Bradley Beal said after the Wizards’ second preseason game. “Like I told him in practice the other day, he’s going to have good days and bad days and in-between days. He has to learn to embrace them all and understand what you’re learning from each of those days and moments. … What I love the most about him is his competitive spirit and his nature that he doesn’t back down from anybody. He continues to go out there and compete at the highest level possible.”

In two games against the Detroit Pistons, Avdija had 7 points on 3-for-8 shooting off the bench in 32 minutes and then followed it up with 9 points on 3-for-8 shooting as a starter also in 32 minutes. In the preseason finale, Avdija had a game-high 10 rebounds, an area the Wizards were miserable in the last few years. The shooting numbers may not have been there the last couple of games, combined 2-for-8 from deep, but the 19-year old still had plenty of flashes.

“He has a pretty good knack for a 19-year old kid that just came to the country on an NBA team. He has a pretty good sweet spot of when to take the shot, when to make the pass, when to drive. Sometimes that takes a long time,” Scott Brooks assessed. “For a young player, he’s just done a marvelous job of just staying within himself and making right plays.”

Watching extensive Deni Avdija basketball for the first time, one can see he already has a high level of basketball IQ. In transition, Detroit had failed to identify him and stop the ball so instead of settling for a top of the key three-point shot, he attacked the basket and finished with ease. We have already seen that Avdija is a good catch and shoot 3-point shooter, but incorporating a one-dribble pull-up with consistency would be the next evolution. Quite possibly the most attractive portion of Avdija’s game is his ability to contribute in a variety of different ways beyond scoring: defense, pushing the pace in transition off of a rebound, setting up his teammates for easy opportunities to name a few.

“Deni’s good, he’s gonna be good. My job is to make sure he improves throughout the season,” Russell Westbrook explained after his Washington debut. “Being a rookie can be tough, can have tough stretches. My job is to constantly stay on him as much as I can, challenge him to be great.”

The Washington Wizards organization has high hopes for Avdija, but understand the circumstances of an extremely accelerated offseason for a 19-year old that just moved to a new country with a new culture. Avdija spoke to that off the court adjustment after his first game vs. the Pistons. Washington is hoping to keep things simple and avoid over communication by limiting those in Avdija’s ear to the likes of player development guru and assistant coach David Adkins, Russell Westbrook, and Bradley Beal.

“It’s funny, I’m telling Deni the whole game, ‘be aggressive, quit trying to force me the ball.’ I catch him a lot just kind of staring at me looking, he catches the ball and holds a lot. Be aggressive, be a player. You’re in the league for a reason,” Beal explained with high praise of Avdija’s already sharp skillset. “As the game will continue to slow down for him, he will learn that and realize that. He only has a split second when he has the ball so me and Russ are just trying to teach him that and keep him encouraged. He finds other niches of the game, he doesn’t have to score 50 points. He continues to stay involved, stay acclimated in the game, deflections, steals, but tonight was rebounding.”

As he typically does, Brooks is keeping his opening night starting small forward close to the vest. Personally, I put little stock in who starts and more in who finishes and plays the most minutes during the course of the game as Washington will run out a variety of lineups. We will see whether Avdija is named the Day 1 starter come Wednesday as Rui Hachimura was last season, but regardless it is clear the rookie will be starting before the end of the season to maximize tapping into his high ceiling.

“He’s definitely working his way to being a starter one day. Don’t know when that will be, it might be Wednesday night. He’s played hard, he’s tough, he has great size, and he’s going to make us a better team,” Brooks said on Saturday after the final preseason game. “He’s making a good case, no question.”