Cavs: 3 best attributes for 2020 NBA Draft prospect Deni Avdija

#3: Avdija’s shooting potential should intrigue the Cleveland Cavaliers

I’ll be completely objective here: Avdija needs to be more consistent as a shooter, particularly from three-point land, which is clearly his swing skill, as draft pundits have emphasized.

Avdija hit just 27.7 percent of his three-point attempts in the Euroleague in 2019-20, albeit that was in a significantly marginalized role with him only playing 14.3 minutes per outing, in which he had 4.0 points per contest.

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On the plus side, in I-BSL play, when Avdija was in a much bigger role, he hit a better 35.3 percent of his three-point attempts and had 12.9 points in 27.6 minutes per game.

Avdija has shown flashes of shooting off of movement and some pull-up shooting capability, some of which was in pick-and-roll situations.

As the aforementioned Parrish also alluded to, Deni was playing well leading up to and after his season’s novel coronavirus-induced hiatus as well, and that “his shooting has noticeably improved.”

The key here is, while shooting potential is not exactly a big seller for Cavs fans necessarily for Avdija, there is promise there. With what he at least showed when he was given more opportunities in the Euroleague and with his I-BSL shooting, I’d imagine the Cavs player development staff could aid him in a big way as a shooter, too.

Cleveland’s player development staff has helped players such as Collin Sexton, Osman and Larry Nance Jr. a ton as shooters, at least via catch-and-shoots. Considering that, they could very well do the same for Avdija, who frankly has a higher ceiling as a passer and on-ball player than Osman.

Now, Avdija hitting just 58.8 percent of his free throws in 2019-20 overall is not exactly a big seller, but given the potential as a shooter he has and with how he’s displayed some promising pull-up shooting in games, I believe that could be cleaned up also.

Anyhow, while he might not be the surest thing for Cleveland, Avdija’s defensive and passing feel, and potential as a shooter/playmaker could definitely play into the Cavs ending up eventually taking him in the 2020 NBA Draft.

To reiterate, though, Okoro and Vassell are players I’d be more than fine with fifth overall for the Cavs, and even more so Okoro.

We’ll have to see what the Cavs end up doing, and per a report from Forbes‘ Evan Dammarell, Cleveland is “fairly comfortable” selecting between the three wings mentioned, but also could be open to trading their #5 selection if that “brings back a player that can contribute immediately to the team’s aspirations next season.”

The Cavs are reportedly looking to make a playoff push next season, but either way, I’d still expect the Wine and Gold, frankly, to end up making their fifth selection in the 2020 NBA Draft, and look out for Avdija to be potentially that pick.