{"id":480143,"date":"2026-01-21T19:44:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=480143"},"modified":"2026-01-21T19:44:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:44:50","slug":"deni-avdija-i-know-i-have-another-level-that-i-can-reach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/deni-avdija-i-know-i-have-another-level-that-i-can-reach\/","title":{"rendered":"Deni Avdija: “I know I have another level that I can reach”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deni Avdija\u2019s play has been one of the biggest surprises of the first half of the NBA regular season. In an interview with The Athletic<\/em><\/a>, the Portland Trail Blazers forward explained that his breakout is the result of several factors: the confidence he received from former head coach Chauncey Billups, strong chemistry with teammates who are genuinely happy for his success \u2014 something he says is rare in the NBA \u2014 and, above all, the mental toughness he developed early in his career.<\/p>\n

Avdija said learning to deal with adversity without making excuses has shaped him as a player, after years of limited playing time, physical defenses and frustrating situations. That mindset has helped him emerge as a complete two-way force for Portland.<\/p>\n

He is currently averaging 26.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game, taking on a major role for a Blazers team that has been shorthanded in the backcourt. Damian Lillard has already labeled Avdija a cornerstone of the franchise\u2019s future:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he is a must-have player in the league right now,\u201d Lillard said. \u201cHe puts pressure on the rim, draws fouls, can make 3s, has size, speed. \u2026 You can see the league is changing, and if a team wants to be successful, you gotta have a guy like him. You gotta have a forward who can do all those things \u2014 and he\u2019s all of those things.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite the success, Avdija believes his rise is far from complete. He is confident he has another level to reach, acknowledging that he is still adjusting to new responsibilities:<\/p>\n

“I know I have another level that I can reach,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m still making a lot of I\u2019m-new-to-this-situation mistakes. Before this year, I haven\u2019t had the ball at the end of the game a lot. Teams haven\u2019t focused on me this much \u2026 and I haven\u2019t had the freedom to do a lot of the things. It takes some getting used to.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Israeli forward is producing 26.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":480142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-480143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nDeni Avdija: "I know I have another level that I can reach" - Sportando<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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