Cavs: 3 players that’d benefit most from selection of Deni Avdija in 2020 NBA Draft

2020 NBA Draft prospect Deni Avdija could be a great addition to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and three players on the Cavs come to mind that’d benefit the most if the team were to select Avdija this June.

This season for the Cleveland Cavaliers has been a year of growth, to say for the most part. Sitting as the 14th seed in the Eastern Conference with a 19-45 record, the Cavs will more than likely have a top five pick in the 2020 NBA Draft in June.

At this point, even though we know the lottery rules are much different now, Cleveland is currently projected to have the third overall pick in a few months, according to Tankathon, for what it’s worth.

Despite what many people see as a weak draft, general manager Koby Altman and the Cavs could walk away from it with one or more impact players, depending on if they make any trades perhaps leading up to the draft or during draft night.

One player in this draft that could grow and blossom into a potential franchise-altering player is Deni Avdija of the Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv B.C. of the Israeli Premier League. Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv plays in the Euroleague often and actually has more, as well.

Anyhow, Avdija is a 6-foot-8 small forward (mostly) that has quickly emerged as one of the top players in this draft with his combination of size, shooting potential and playmaking feel. This season in the I-BSL, he is putting up 12.4 points on 55.7 percent shooting (including a three-point shooting clip of 38.8 percent), to go with 6.05 rebounds, 2.50 assists and 1.1 blocks per game, according to Real GM.

Granted, in the Euroleague where the 19-year-old Avdija has had a smaller role, he’s only averaged 4.04 points on 43.6 percent shooting, including a 27.7 percent three-point shooting hit rate, but he’s only played 14.3 minutes per game. In the I-BSL, he’s played 26.6 minutes per contest.

That being said, Avdija is a versatile player, and he has very high potential as a wing at the NBA level.

Currently at the small forward position, the Cavaliers are playing Cedi Osman and Alfonzo McKinnie, as well as Kevin Porter Jr. a bunch this year (but not as much lately), and Dylan Windler has not played at all this season and won’t due to complications involving a reported stress reaction in his left leg, though next year he could be involved in that rotation. There should not be much competition for Deni and he would be a starter from day one, though.

Not only would his size and defensive potential drastically improve this team but, his versatility could lead to a lot of creative lineup options from head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

Factoring in that, we’re going to look at three players in particular who would benefit most from the addition of Deni Avdija, beginning with a player picked highly by the Cleveland Cavaliers in last year’s draft.