Detroit Pistons 2020 NBA Draft proifle: Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Deni Avdija
By Ari Eizen
The Detroit Pistons season hasn’t gone as planned. Deni Advija is a 2020 NBA Draft prospect that could add another element to the team’s young core.
As the 2019-20 season winds down, the Detroit Pistons’ season looks to be becoming more and more irrelevant and painful to watch. Currently sitting in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with a 19-36 record, the Pistons are sitting four games out of the eighth seed, which is currently being held by the Orlando Magic. On top of this, the Pistons have the sixth-worst strength of schedule remaining this season.
On top of that, two of their top players, Blake Griffin and Luke Kennard, are out indefinitely with injuries and Kennard and Derrick Rose were both included in trade talks despite not being traded. With Andre Drummond being shipped out to the Clevland Cavaliers, it seems to be that the franchise is about to enter a rebuilding phase. Despite the fact that owner Tom Gores has been hesitant to enter a rebuilding phase, it seems that he has accepted the fact that this is the path that the Pistons must go down in order to reach contention once again.
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As of now, the Detroit Pistons are in line to draft seventh this upcoming June. One prospect who has been rumored to be available at this time in the draft is forward Deni Avdija from Maccabi Tel Aviv. To start the season, Avdija was seen as a top-5 pick, but play from other top prospects in the NCAA and Australia has moved him more down most big boards.
Unlike most top draft prospects, Advija has not been on the radar of most NBA fans. Most fans have heard about LaMelo Ball ever since he was a freshman in high school. James Wiseman and Anthony Edwards were both top prospects in college this year.
Avdija first busted onto the scene last year when ESPN’s Mike Schmitz wrote an article showcasing him after Avdija helped Israel win its second-straight Under-20 European Championship. It seems like every year there has been one international player that surprises the common NBA fan with his skills and abilities. Deni Avdija could very possibly be that player in the upcoming draft.