Deni Avdija looks to be in the draft conversation for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Deni Avdija is one of the most highly touted prospects in the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft. Along with this, it appears that he may have the highest upside and potential out of any of the players in the draft pool this year, and he’s reportedly well on the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ radar.
Avdija has spent his entire basketball career playing overseas and forewent coming to America to participate in NCAA College Basketball and rather has played professional basketball against grown men since the young age of 16.
While this might have been a red flag for general managers decades ago, after the success of players who played overseas like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic, fans and management alike are no longer nearly as skeptical of foreign players as they were in the past.
As a result of this, Avdija is projected to be one of the first names off of the board on draft night on Nov. 18. James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area has him projected to be the second overall pick to the Golden State Warriors.
Granted, CBS Sports’ Colin Ward-Henninger had Avdija to Golden State eighth overall via trade-down with the New York Knicks, and whereas he had Obi Toppin to the Cavs at #5. So perhaps Avdija will be available for Cleveland.
And if Advdija does make his way down to the fifth overall pick, the Cavaliers should jump on the chance to draft him in a second as long as there is not another potential star on the board. Avdija is a player that can solve a lot of the Cavs problems they have as a team, and currently there are a lot of problems that need to be fixed.
However, after having what is set to be three straight lottery picks, one of which at least looks to be a terrific scorer in Collin Sexton, hitting on this pick and getting a player like Deni Avdija could be a big step in the right direction in turning the franchise around.
Considering that, we’ll highlight three reasons why the Cavs should draft Avdija if he’s available.
Now, we’ll get right into that.