What Deni Avdija is doing for the Portland Trail Blazers is once-in-a-decade thing.
Over his last six games, Avdija is averaging 27 points, 11.2 boards, and 5.7 dimes with a steal. That’s impressive, and includes his 31-point, 16-rebound, 8-assist, 2-block effort in a 16-point win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, a line that no player has EVER put up in the history of the franchise.
He kept it going on Friday with 36-8-7 and three steals in a 19-point victory over the Denver Nuggets, a line that only he and Clyde Drexler share as the only Blazers to have done (though Clyde did it five times between 1985 and 1992).
Smashing those two games together gives another bit of Trail Blazers history: Avdija joins Drexler, Damian Lillard, and Sidney Wicks as the only Blazers to have consecutive games with at least 31 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.
Just for fun, let’s take a quick look back at the players and those four streaks.
Sydney Wicks - Dec. 29-30, 1972 - 23 years old
Portland Trailblazers v Milwaukee Bucks Photo by Vernon Biever/NBAE via Getty Images
Winning Rookie of the Year and making the All-Star team after being drafted second overall by Portland in 1971, Wicks had a banger of a sophomore campaign, averaging 23.8 points, 10.9 boards, and 5.5 dimes. During his two-game stretch in late December, Wicks averaged over 43 minutes a game as the Blazers dropped two to the Phoenix Suns, one in Portland and one in Arizona. Fun fact: both arenas were Memorial Coliseums, with the one in Portland built in 1960 and the one in Phoenix built in 1965.
Clyde Drexler - April 21-23, 1989 - 26 years old
1988 All Star Slam Dunk Contest: Clyde Drexler Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Clyde was in his prime and the Blazers were soon to be red hot and rollin’ by the time he put together these two games. This season marked coach Rick Adelman’s first games as he took the reins after Mike Schuler was fired partway through the campaign. The Blazers split this pair of games with an OT win over Sacramento and a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Clyde scored 43 and 40 respectively, nearly earning triple doubles in both games and averaging a staggering 47 minutes. Clyde’s 1988-89 season saw his third All-Star selection, but incredibly he was left off all three All-NBA teams despite averaging 27.2 points, 7.9 boards, and 5.8 dimes, and 2.7 steals.
Damian Lillard - Jan. 29-31, 2020 - 29 years old
Portland Trail Blazers v Utah Jazz Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images
The “bubble Blazers” would follow later this year, but this pair of games in January came about a month before COVID stopped NBA basketball and gripped the world in a fog of fear and uncertainty. The Blazers won both games, and Dame got his first career triple double with 36-10-11 against the Houston Rockets. Averaging nearly 40 minutes during these two games, he took a whopping 51 shots combined, including 30 in a win over the Lakers on the road.
Deni Avdija - March 19-21, 2025 - 24 years old
Washington Wizards v Portland Trail Blazers Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images
What was an unexpected offseason move for a young veteran on a value contract will be nothing short of a coup if Deni Avdija keeps playing anywhere near where he has over the last week and change, let along this two-game stretch. Avdija led the Blazers to two wins in 38.5 minutes, and of the four players on this list he’s the only one to record a block (though to be fair to Wicks the NBA didn’t start recording blocks until the following season). He also boasts the most rebounds in a game (16) of any player’s two-game stretch.
Is a one-game, two-game, or six-game sample enough to draw conclusions about Avdija’s place in Trail Blazers history? Of course not. But it’s fun to dream, and it’s also fair to point out when a player is doing something that we can count on one hand as having ever happened in the history of the team, and that’s worth celebrating... if not overreacting to.