On a night the 30-41 Washington Wizards lost defensive focus and effort to the 18-54 Houston Rockets to blow a 23-point first-half lead, it should be abundantly clear that they are a team headed for the NBA draft lottery with 11 games left to play and five games back of the play-in tournament’s 10th seeded 35-36 Atlanta Hawks. If it has not already, the Wizards organization internally needs to accept that the remaining games should strive to accelerate the development of their young players like Deni Avdija, Rui Hachimura, Corey Kispert, and Daniel Gafford. Avdija struggled shooting from the field in his 24 minutes off the bench with 7 points on 2-for-8 shooting, misfiring on all three of his attempts from beyond the arc, but he filled up the stat sheet in Houston with nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block.

Fresh off of knocking down a crucial 3-pointer with 61 seconds left to secure a win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, Avdija continued to make his impact felt as requested by former teammate Russell Westbrook. Most noticeably, Avdija’s ability to flip the switch from defense to offense for Washington is providing transition opportunities that have been few and far between for the Wizards as a whole this season. Before things turned ugly for the Wizards, Avdija provided a highlight ending in an easy Kristaps Porzingis dunk much to the delight of the Latvian big man after the game as he is already yearning for more.

Deni Avdija steal to Kristaps Porzingis dunk 👀 pic.twitter.com/G3fCuGtIF8

— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) March 22, 2022

“He has really good instincts for finding his teammates, pushing the ball in transition,” Porzingis assessed Avdija’s playmaking ability. “He’s not afraid to make a play, I really like that about him. He’s real good, he’s real sneaky with those passes. He just kind of drives to the rim and he knew that I was there and boom he just threw it back to me without looking so that was pretty cool from him and I expect more of those plays as he keeps building his game up.”

Wes Unseld Jr. has stuck with Raul Neto as the team’s starting point guard despite his defensive deficiencies citing his ability to keep the offense organized, which bears some truth given the Brazilian’s game-high 10 assists against the Rockets. With Ish Smith and Tomas Satoransky also in the mix, Avdija does not have the ball in his hands in most half-court sets. Even if Washington thinks Deni Avdija is not ready to be a primary ball-handler in the NBA, there seems to be little downside in trying it out more extensively and forcing the issue to see whether that could be part of the 21-year old’s future.

“I thought he was solid, especially early. I think that’s another strength that we’ve seen him display, especially in pick and rolls, in the open floor. I think he’s got a good feel. He can pass, play make, and he’s showing a more consistent level of finishing in the paint,” Unseld said after the Rockets game, often generically complimenting his players but thus far not giving Avdija the keys to the offense.

Avdija alluded after the Lakers game that all of these experiences will help his future development that still has not had a full offseason, which will be a first prior to Year 3 this summer. The prospects of another positive step in all of Avdija’s versatile skillsets certainly have the organization excited including franchise cornerstone Bradley Beal who continues to hint at re-signing to stay in Washington this summer.

“Deni’s constantly getting better,” Beal said on the NBC Sports Washington post-game show. “Deni’s versatile. We’re trying to put him at the 3, the 4, sometimes we play him at the 1. We’re moving Deni all over the place, but I love the fact that he’s open to it. He’s not sitting here saying I can’t do this or I can’t do that. He doesn’t put himself in a box. He’s a willing learner, he asks a million questions, and he accepts these challenges. I always consider him one of our better defenders. He’s very big, he has great size, and he utilizes it. That mentality that he has, will project him further and further down the line. The future is super, super-bright for him.”