Deni Avdija has taken an All-Star-level leap this season, but that's only come on the offensive end. In fact, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic recently called out Avdija for his defensive slippage as his offensive workload has increased.
"As he's taken on more offensive responsibility, he's gotten much less impactful on defense than what he was in Washington and even what he was the first half of last year in Portland," Vecenie said on the Game Theory Podcast. "Portland should have enough defensive infrastructure to make it work behind him, but I would say he's now average to below-average defensively.