When Deni Avdija fell to the hardwood on an April night against the Golden State Warriors, many feared the promising rookie suffered a serious leg injury. Although any injury is undesirable, Avdija dodged a more dire bullet when an MRI diagnosed him with a right fibular hairline fracture that would not require surgery with a full recovery expected in approximately 12 weeks. Unfortunately for Avdija, the initial timeline proved to be optimistic as he battled setbacks that lengthened his recovery time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got injured, the predictions were probably 2-3 months, more so like 10 weeks,” Avdija said on Friday. “When I look back at it, it\u2019s been 6 months. It was not planned to be out for so long. I just had to keep going, I had to deal with it. I know my body didn\u2019t repair itself like everybody thought it would.”<\/p>\n
After more than five months of rehab that cost him an opportunity to play in Summer League and limited his participation in training camp, Avdija returned to 5-on-5 scrimmaging in practice this past week before making his preseason debut on Saturday vs. the New York Knicks. In 16 minutes of play off the bench, the 20-year old had four points on 2-for-4 shooting, three rebounds, and an assist.<\/p>\n
“It was a pretty tough ride for me at the beginning,” Avdija recalled about his recovery. “All the preparation and rehabbing wasn\u2019t easy. But I promised myself I would come back stronger, come back better, more experienced and basically I feel like I\u2019m ready [now].”<\/p>\n
\nGood defense always leads to transition offense<\/p>\n
Raul Neto with a sweet drop off pass to Deni Avdija for his first points in over 5 months pic.twitter.com\/MEZTNYyF4q<\/a><\/p>\n
— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) October 9, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n