No. 9 overall pick Deni Avdija signs rookie contract with Wizards

Rookie forward Deni Avdija signed his rookie contract with the Wizards, the team announced Tuesday (via Twitter).

The No. 9 pick in the draft, Avdija is in line for a four-year, $20.34M deal, assuming he signs for 120% of the rookie scale amount, as virtually every first-round pick does. The contract, which will pay him $4.47M in his rookie season, will be guaranteed for the first two years, with third- and fourth-year team options.

Avdija, who has spent the last three years with Maccabi Tel Aviv, won the Israeli League Most Valuable Player Award in 2020. He averaged 12.9 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 2.7 APG in Israeli League games, becoming the youngest MVP in league history at age 19.

Widely considered a probable top-five pick entering the Nov. 18 draft, Avdija slipped to the Wizards at No. 9 and will now join a team led by John Wall and Bradley Beal that’s looking to make it back to the postseason in 2021. Washington now has a full 20-man training camp roster.