Blazers Trade Malcolm Brogdon, No. 14 Pick, Future Picks to Wizards for Forward Deni Avdija

The Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to trade veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon, the No. 14 pick in tonight’s NBA Draft and future draft capital to the Washington Wizards for forward Deni Avdija, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The future draft capital will include the second most favorable of Portland’s 2029 first-round picks and two second-round picks in 2028 and 2030.

The 6-foot-9 Avdija, 23, will be entering his fifth NBA season this fall. In 75 games with the Wizards this past season, Avdija averaged 14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 37.4% on 3-pointers. He started all 75 games.

Avdija’s scoring took a noticeable leap this past season, as he scored just 9.2 points per game and shot under 30% on 3s in the 2022-23 season. That leap helped him rank sixth in the final voting results for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award.

According to Spotrac, Avdija signed a four-year, $55 million extension last offseason that is set to expire after the 2027-28 season. Avdija is due approximately $15.63 million this upcoming season, but the salary amount decreases each sequential year, so he’s only due about $11.88 in the final year.

Brogdon, 31, is on an expiring $22.5 million contract next season. He averaged 15.7 points and 5.5 assists in 39 games for the Blazers this past season.

Notably, the deal moves Portland below the tax and first apron, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Both sides have agreed to the deal, but technically it can’t go through until July 6, Marks reported.

While the Blazers traded their No. 14 pick in tonight’s NBA Draft, they still own the No. 7 pick, so more activity is on the way.

The draft is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. PDT.

UPDATE: Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported that “Brogdon will become a trade candidate to be flipped by Washington.”

Note: This story has been updated to clarify that the future second-round picks in the deal are for 2028 and 2030.