For most of the 2025-26 season the Portland Trail Blazers have enjoyed the breakout of newly-minted NBA All-Star Deni Avdija. Avdija has been struggling with back issues lately. Blazers fans have now seen their team with Deni full-strength, hobbled, and absent entirely. Safe to say, more Deni is better than less.
Having said that, we’ve been sitting on this question from the Blazer’s Edge Mailbag for a few weeks now. Let’s bring it up today.
Dear Dave,
Is Deni Avdija really a star? No additions. I’m going to leave it at that.
A couple of thoughts come to mind immediately.
First, Deni is the player you’re asking about, right? We’re not having this debate about the 10th-12th guys in the rotation, or even the 3rd starter. So there’s something to him. The fact that you’re identifying this issue in the first place indicates he’s at least near stardom.
Second, 24.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.6 assists is pretty inarguable. Whatever we think of Deni or don’t, those numbers exist. He’s in the Top 20 in points and assists per game, deep enough in the season to forecast that he’s going to stay there. No matter what your definition of “star” is, Avdija would qualify as the top starter for at least half of NBA teams. That’s pretty elite company.
And he plays defense too? Sold.
Avdija isn’t a superstar yet. He may never become one. In my mind that label is reserved for MVP candidates. You can’t place him with Luka, Giannis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or Joker. That’s one boundary. Time provides a second. Deni is new at this. We haven’t seen him excel at this rate for even one complete season, let alone multiple. Also I do think there’s something to the “best player on a bad/mediocre team” theory. Avdija is averaging 25 points per game because he’s THE option. Shaedon Sharpe can score but doesn’t/can’t control the ball. Jerami Grant gives you 20 but he’s an offensive endpoint, not at the heart of the play. Deni has all the space and permission he needs to ring up stats. If he gets on a more crowded roster, especially with a focused and contending team, you may see his scoring drop, which would also impact people’s opinion of him. Personally, I don’t hang Deni’s stardom on points produced, so I’m not bothered.
After saying all that, I think this question misses the point. Debating whether or not Avdija is a star may be an interesting theoretical exercise, but it’s a matter of definition and opinion. What kind of star Avdija is matters much more.
My specific question, the one I’d put before Blazer’s Nation today, is whether Avdija is a star point guard or something else. We’ve touched on this during several Mailbag questions in the past, but it’s time to have it out for real.
Generally, I’ve observed that as the Blazers have gotten healthier this season and returned actual point guards to the lineup, both team tempo and Avdija’s own play have gotten slower. Deni is still a weapon when he’s not controlling the ball, but he’s not THAT Deni.
Before the season started, I never would have envisioned Avdija as a point guard. Right now, I’m seriously considering it. You can only see so many double-digit assists games coupled with height and decent perimeter defense before you go, “Hmmmm…”
Turnover rate is one of the strong arguments against the proposition. Avdija ranks third in the league in turnovers per 100 possessions with 5.4. He has good company there; Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, James Harden, Jaylen Brown, and Cade Cunningham are in the same neighborhood. In some ways, the stat is less an indicator of carelessness and more a measure of who gets to handle the ball a lot. It’d still benefit Deni and the Blazers if he could curb that a little. Even a turnover per game less would help.
There’s also an open question about whether Avdija is really an offense-runner when that offense doesn’t consist of, “Drive to the bucket, get fouled, or pass to an open guy against a collapsing defense.” Even by modern NBA standards, Portland’s current attack is pretty straight-line. Executing it well is enough to get you from bad to good, but good to great may require more thought (and precision).
Despite those caveats, this reality remains: if Avdija is a point guard, he can get by with being a very good player without the burden of having to be stellar. His height, scoring ability, assist production, and defense will give the Blazers natural advantages over most opponents. The same is not true at small forward or even shooting guard, where he needs that 25, 7, and 7 (or more) to stand out.
The inverse is also true. If he’s a point guard, Deni will probably be one of the better ones without ever cracking the Top 4. There will always be primary ball-handlers who are better than he at passing, scoring, shooting, and running a game. As a secondary passer and wing defender, Avdija has the potential to become one of the top-of-the-league guys over time. That doesn’t mean he’ll make it, but that door is open.
For those reasons, I’d shift this question away from, “Is Deni a star?” (he is as much as anybody) to, “Is he capable of being a point guard and/or a star point guard?”
Rather than answering that definitively, because I think we’re still gathering data, I want to throw that question out to readers today. Do you foresee Deni Avdija becoming the overt—or at least default—point guard for the Blazers over the next couple of seasons? Why or why not? Will that be a good thing?
Enjoy that discussion in the comments section below and don’t forget to send your own questions to blazersub@gmail.com. We’ll try to answer as many as possible!