Despite his youth, Deni Avdija is already one of the most famous athletes in his hoops-crazed homeland. But can he make a name for himself in the NBA?
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00:00Denny Advia, who plays for Maccabi Tel Aviv, could be a top pick in this year's upcoming
00:09draft.
00:10But because of his background, some of you may not know who he is.
00:13Our Ben Pickman had a chance to feature him in today's Daily Cover.
00:17Ben, why could his game translate to the NBA?
00:21So Denny Advia is an incredibly interesting prospect in this 2020 NBA draft.
00:26And he is already a star in Israel, which is a basketball crazed country.
00:31Now Denny is just 19 years old, but he's already one of the biggest names there and one of
00:35the most sought after autographs among all of sporting fans.
00:38You walk into the Maccabi Tel Aviv arena and you immediately see a small little cutout
00:43of Denny, a cartoon cutout, and he's always being asked for selfies or autographs.
00:47And he's always aware of it.
00:49And he never turns it down.
00:50He wants to please the fans.
00:51Now he's aware of the pressure that he's under.
00:53He's an incredibly nice.
00:54He's an incredibly lively and funny person to be around.
00:57His teammates talk about some of the pranks that he he's been known to pull, including
01:01moving car mirrors and car windshield wipers and also losing people's flip flops.
01:05So there is this kind of fun, youthful side to Denny Advia.
01:08But there is also this incredibly hard worker, someone who's always in the gym.
01:12He says when he plays limited minutes, two games in a row, he often does two a days because
01:16that's how he recovers.
01:18He's aware of the pressure he's under, the spotlight he's under, and he's looking to
01:21make an impact in the NBA very, very soon.
01:24But when you talk about the pressure in the spotlight, that's not just because of where
01:27he might be drafted, but what he would represent for Israel.
01:30Right.
01:31It's it's both a combination of those things.
01:33He represents, you know, a future star potentially in the making for Israel.
01:37Israel's had a history of some basketball players, some who did not make the NBA and
01:42some starting with Omri Caspi about a decade ago, who made the NBA being drafted by the
01:47Sacramento Kings.
01:48Now, Caspi actually returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv this past season to create this kind
01:52of beautiful handoff of sorts between one former Israeli basketball star to another.
01:58Now, one of the reasons why Abdiah is in the spotlight so much and one of the things we
02:02will see as the draft nears is that NBA teams are constantly on the lookout for the next
02:06Luka Doncic.
02:07Right.
02:08And so those comparisons will naturally get brought up.
02:10Abdiah is six foot nine.
02:12He's versatile.
02:13He plays in transition a lot like Luka Doncic did.
02:15But pump the brakes on those comparisons, because the two are very different players.
02:20Luka Doncic played big minutes.
02:22He was the league MVP with Real Madrid in Euroleague prior to coming to the NBA.
02:26Abdiah, on the other hand, plays a much more limited role in Euroleague, albeit he does
02:30play and contribute significantly or in a major way, especially of late obvious struggles
02:37a little bit from outside his three point shooting needs work.
02:39But as I said, he is the kind of player that NBA teams are trending to incredibly versatile
02:44and can make a difference.
02:46Now, one comparison, if you want to make some comparisons potentially for Denny Abdiah,
02:50look at Danilo Gallinari, a Nick Batum type, a Dario Sarge.
02:54And one other assistant coach, Ahmed Khabib Tel Aviv, also mentioned Andre Iguodala as
02:59a potential comparison because Denny is a limited three point shooter, but is versatile
03:03on defense, has really good instincts and can create.
03:06And so there's a little bit of Iguodala in there as well, potentially still a lot of
03:10room for growth.
03:11Unlike Luka Doncic, I want to make that clear.
03:13But he could be a potential high level, high level NBA player.
03:16Well, Andre Iguodala was very much a high level NBA player.
03:20Appreciate your time, as always.
03:22Thanks a lot for having me.