Wizards sign former top-10 pick to four-year extension

The Wizards and forward Deni Avdija have agreed to a contract extension, agents Doug Neustadt and Matan Siman-Tov tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to Wojnarowski, the deal will be worth $55M over four years and is fully guaranteed.

The No. 9 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Avdija has appeared in 212 games for Washington over the last three seasons, averaging 8.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 24.8 minutes per game during that time and posting a career shooting line of .431/.310/.734.

Given that his numbers haven’t increased substantially since his rookie year (his .297 3PT% in 2022/23 was a career worst) and the Wizards have overhauled their front office since drafting him, Avdija didn’t look like one of the top candidates to receive a rookie scale extension in 2023. However, he and the team came to an agreement ahead of Monday’s deadline, making him the ninth player to agree to a rookie scale extension so far this year.

Avdija’s new deal is nearly exactly in line with the value of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projection for 2024/25 (a 4.4% increase), a full four-year MLE deal next season would be worth $55.69M.

When our Rory Maher explored Avdija’s case for an extension back in July, he used the MLE as a point of reference, writing that the forward probably wasn’t in position to get more than the mid-level on the open market.

The contract will cut into Washington’s projected cap room for the 2024 offseason, but the team should still be in position to create at least $22M in space, and potentially more than that, notes Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.

After missing the first two games of the preseason due to back tightness, Avdija appears good to go for the regular season and may be part of the Wizards’ starting five alongside Tyus Jones, Jordan Poole, Kyle Kuzma and Daniel Gafford. If the team instead opts to start rookie forward Bilal Coulibaly, Avdija would be one of the first players off the bench.