"Quit Stan'ing Deni Avdija! It's Weird!" | DC Radio Host Goes Off in "Never Read The Comments"

We've never had a "Never Read The Comments" like this! Fresh off the breaking news of the Deni Avdija trade, we dive into the comments of our instant reactions to see what Wizards fans think of Will Dawkins trading his star forward to the Portland Trailblazers for four draft picks and Malcolm Brogdon.
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[@WilliyWonka-rc6ym]

Deni is great.

[@thesunofgod.]

Ok.

[@nealm6764]

@@thesunofgod. Better and more hard-working than John Wall ever was.

[@craighoffman]

Wall averaged below 14.7ppg once in his career. That was his final year. That was Deni's average last season...his career high. What are we doing here besides trolling?

[@nealm6764]

@@craighoffman Yeah, I am the one trolling, not you and the goobers talking about how Dani was trash and purposefully attacking and agitating people who were fans of his instead of just letting their disappointment fade away.

[@craighoffman]

You don’t listen. I said he’s a very good basketball player. In what way is that “he’s trash?” It’s not. It’s just not “he’s going to be an All-Star/All-NBA player” and he’s not going to be peaking on the Wizards timeline. If you’d listen, maybe you wouldn’t be so upset?

[@omerazulay3198]

You really obssesed with deni wow, mby cuz you need some traffic idk, well there you go, you got it!

[@craighoffman]

Thanks!!

[@seventyfive7597]

I don't hate the wizards, but when you trade your only high basketball IQ guy, it makes the games more boring. And we got a bunch of gambles in return, because god knows how many draft busts we've seen

[@craighoffman]

He’s not their only high basketball IQ guy. Weird bit.

[@jackdaniels4thewin0]

Are the wizards the worst franchise in the league? It’s pretty close

[@portlandgoose4727]

100%. And it’s not close.

[@Jesussaves33_]

I'm a wizards fan (not a deni fan) and watched every game and saw Deni's all star potential key word potential. Seen a lot of wizards fans switch up on deni cause his fans annoy them.

[@craighoffman]

There’s a lot of dudes with potential. By the time you hit your second contract, the chances of flipping into an all-star when you’re averaging 14.7 ppg aren’t very good.

[@Jesussaves33_]

@craighoffman You make a great point the move to trade him was a good one I just think we shouldn't be inconsistent with how we view someone because of their fans. I'm not saying you because I don't know how you viewed deni but other people have changed opinions because of this.

[@craighoffman]

Just search my page and you can find out. Lots of segments on it lol

[@This.Here.Channel]

Portland fan here...we're still tanking.

[@doritmaman]

Guess we will never know we traded him before he reached his prime.

[@craighoffman]

You can still watch him in Portland? Lol

[@nealm6764]

@@craighoffman Why are you so triggered and invested that people can't like him and remain a fan of the team?!?! Did you do that with all the Wall and Beal fans? I don't remember that. Wonder why it is so different with Deni?

[@craighoffman]

Huh?

[@baxatakbaxatak2014]

Deni was mid at best. We got extra firsts and a decent vet in Brogdon. Everyone but Bilal and the rookies are up for grabs. Buckle up.

[@seventyfive7597]

I think the move stunted both the Wizards' and Deni's growth

[@portlandgoose4727]

Probably helped his growth. He now gets to play with competent and players and won’t be visibly pissed off with certain teammates every other night

[@GrimmGardena]

Comparing the Wizards moves to the Celtics, 76ers, Nuggets, etc., is wild. All of those teams had a war chest full of future draft picks... Washington doesn't.

[@craighoffman]

Huh? What do you think they’re trying to acquire? Lol

[@Showtimepicks_]

Deni is the man why cant fans have a favorite player? We been forced to love beal for years if the front office had said were building around deni yall would be slurping him too stop it #PushingAgendas

[@craighoffman]

No one is forcing you to do anything? You can have favorite players? There’s a difference in that and coming off like you’re part of a cult haha

[@thesunofgod.]

It’s like y’all make up 💩 and have the nerve to say “agendas” lol….who forced people to like Beal or Wall? 😂 Beal doesn’t even get the same love as Wall out here.

[@xavierd.3931]

I never really was a Deni fan from the jump because of his stand and the main reason he started to break out was because opportunities opened up as the 2nd and 3rd option. If he stays on the same projected path, an overpay was going to be inevitable once his extension was up. We got great value for him!

[@baxatakbaxatak2014]

I’m fine with it. We got extra picks for our draft, and at least we control Brogdon’s fate. We had no choice with Chris Paul, he’s Canton bound and would never have set foot in the arena. Brogdon ain’t going to Canton unless he’s taking a tour. These same goobers were mad when we traded Beal and Kristaps. It’s bad enough that Ted “Dolan with Manners” Leonsis fell in love with players for so long, but the fans do as well. This is the rebuild we all begged for, folks. Everyone but Bilal and the rooks are up for grabs. Ps KCP was largely useless, all he did as a Wizard was play Gretchen to Beal’s Regina.

[@guyben1657]

Hoffman, everything is cool. Im personally think Deni was the best draft pick the Wizards have made since Jhon Wall, people can think differently but I personally believe he HAS All NBA potential. He’s a really good work ethic and he’s only in the start of his uprise. Far from finished product. That’s where Dawkins was wrong on his evaluation IMO.

[@thesunofgod.]

They’re only bias fans of deni not the team, just like with Rui they disappeared after the trade 😂

[@andrewa5547]

I really liked Deni and how he improved, and I was initially disappointed in the trade; but realistically I don't think he would ever be a good team's first or second (even third) option/best player. Same way how I feel about Kuzma and Poole. These guys are great role players that can shine on a bad team, but can never really carry/lead a team to success (as we've seen). If these guys were so great, we probably would've won more than 15 games lol. We don't want to repeat what we did to Beal, giving a 3rd/4th option player a supermax, smh

[@philibusters23]

Wizards want to tank and in order to tank you have to get rid of your good players. So Kyle Kuzma and Deni Avdija are kind of prime targets to trade. I would guess we will trade Kuzma. You tank for a high draft pick. In the Wizards case, you tank to have a draft pick (The Knicks have the 2025 first round draft pick of the Wizards unless its top 10 and assuming the 2025 pick does not convey, then the 2026 first round draft pick of the Wizards unless its top 8). So a team with Kumza, Avdija, Bilal Coulibaly improving, plus Alex Saar overachieving and say going 35-47 would be a potential disaster for the Wizards as they would not only not get a top 3 or 4 pick, but they would lose their first round pick entirely which is bad for rebuilding. Trading away good players so the teams realistic ceiling is probably 25 wins with a floor of 12 ro 13 wins makes sense. But they have to accomplish that not only for 2024-2025 season, but also for the 2025-2026 season. I think that first round pick turns into two second round picks if it hasn't conveyed by the 2026 NBA draft.

[@rsgomlftw]

Careful 😂 ur going after a group of people who are extremely sensitive and stubborn to criticism of Deni

[@craighoffman]

Boy do I know it lmao

[@ElizabethHaydon]

Dudeeeee there is so much I want to remarq as a Deni fan or stan whatever. But equating Deni's trade value to Bradley beal's is crazyyy. Are you telling me that Deny value while playing with Sarr next year when he would be 24 years old, would go down? Yeah waiting until the end of the contract is probably waiting too much, but you could trade Deni in a year or two if he doesn't suit the Wizards plane.

[@craighoffman]

By nature it drops with one less year of contractual control. Deni, Kyle, Sarr, and to some extent Bilal all play the same position, so that could lead to a minutes decline if Kyle gets traded. There’s a chance he could’ve had a monster year and gone up. For sure. He’s very good! But, you got two firsts and two seconds plus a player in return for him. That’s an outstanding return!

[@ElizabethHaydon]

@@craighoffman It's one year from a 4 year declining contract which starts next season, even if Deni would just sustain his stats without any improvement his value at 24 years old still won't go down. The value the Wizards got for Deni is nice, no denial on that, but is not crazy by any means...14th pick and a maybe a bottom lottery pick in 2029? We just saw 6 first rounds being traded for a really nice role player guy which would probably never be an all-star (Bridges), which is kind of like the ceiling for Deni? And I don't understand why so many clear cut centers such as AD, Wembi and now Sarr are expected to play at the 4. You drafted for a Center, he and Deni should not be expected to play at the same position. And definitely Kuz value is going down, and he is the one that should have been traded. And I love Kuz, I think he was a good mentor and friend to Deni. In any means, unless the situation is trading Deni now, or give him a max with no trade clause, the comparison to Bradleay Beal is wild.

[@craighoffman]

Sarr will play the 5, but not yet. He’s not big enough. He needs to add weight, which he will because he’s 19. You don’t want him banging with guys like Embiid until his body fills in. Also, Deni is a very good player in a year where you’re trying to tank your face off to get Cooper Flagg. If he wins you an extra two games, that’s bad! Also, that 2029 pick is a trade chip more than it is an actual potential pick. You can flip it again. That’s the OKC way that Winger/Dawkins come from. Lastly - comparing Bridges to Deni is, respectfully, laughable. Bridges was the centerpiece of the Durant trade. That dude’s soooooo much better than Deni. A genuinely premier defender who averaged nearly 20ppg last year. Deni’s career high is 14.7 and he’s a very solid defender, not premier.

[@ElizabethHaydon]

​@@craighoffman Again, I said that he is Deni's ceiling. I don't remember him be exceptionally more talented than Deni in the phoenix suns. In fact, when he was 24 years old he got the 8th most votes for the most improved player. Deni just got 6th at 23 :) And while yeah he was a big part of the KD trade, lets not forget they added 4 first round picks + swap...

[@YoniTeitelbaum]

This guy.... You guys dont understand development. Im excoted for him to keep developing, hes gonna be way better than bilal, what your franchise is building on... im excoted to see you stay in the dumps trashing deni while he improves and thrives elsewhere

[@craighoffman]

I’m not trashing Deni. I’m trashing you 😂

[@YoniTeitelbaum]

@@craighoffman I think it's funny considering your team is worst in the league and you just traded your most consistent player only because he was drafted by previous management. So are you really in any position to trash anyone? I think not. Enjoy last place for the next 4 years

[@craighoffman]

It's not "my" team. I cover them. I'm a professional journalist. And you say that like that's not the goal of the team for the next year or so, and that's not exactly how you escape the mediocrity treadmill and get really good. Weird, whacky bit!

[@YoniTeitelbaum]

@@craighoffman seems it's been the goal of the team for many years... or they've just been inadvertently trash. Regarding being a "professional" if hating on 23 year olds and the fans they bring to the team you supposedly cover is professional, it's no shock 7k subs only is the scale of your platform. But hey, you do you, but just like the team you cover, you are inadvertently garbage.

[@craighoffman]

They have not had the goal of development for years. They have been trying, and failing, to compete and thus were stuck being incredibly mediocre. They are entering their second year under new management, which is the first management group to focus on rebuilding. Also, I’m not “hating” on anyone. I’m giving my opinion. Which you don’t like. Welcome to sports talk 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@DallasRoark]

Craig, you're giving millennial. Stan is not that serious of a word. The origin story is correct but the use case of stan can be broader than the Eminem version of it. It can also be used for things and not just people...."I stan burritos" not trying to argue your overall point but as a 27-year-old voice of the youth, I wanted to help

[@craighoffman]

You sure showed your youth alright 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@DallasRoark]

@@craighoffman Oh, you're just a bitter person ... got it nvm

[@craighoffman]

Buddy you came on my page and said this dumb shit. You’re giving young, self-important person who puts way too much stock in his own opinions. As a 34 year old voice of someone older than you, I wanted to help 😉