Rookie Outlook: Trail Blazers' Donovan Clingan

The 7-foot-2, two-time NCAA champion has made his way to the NBA. How might he fare in his first season of action?

Jul 15, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) reacts to a play against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images / Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Donovan Clingan's summer league performance was indicative of what he'll be doing this season in his first year in the NBA for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Strong two-way interior presence with nine points per game with 4.3 blocks averaged throughout four contests -- as well as a Summer League-best 12.3 rebounds -- displays the type of talent and tangibles he offers to this league while transitioning from college ball in his time at UConn. A two-time champion with the Huskies, Clingan averaged lower numbers than that of his Summer League in college outside of his point total, where he averaged 9.8 points per game in his career.

Clearly, those four games won't mark any linear progression for Clingan throughout the majority of this season, but they're a decent benchmark to see how he might fare against some NBA-level competition -- and with how well he competed, it's promising for the Trail Blazers organization to see what they have in their young big man.

Most likely learning behind Deandre Ayton for a large chunk of his rookie season, and through a rebuilding period for Portland who was dead last in the Western Conference a year ago, Clingan will find himself with plenty of playing time as the seventh overall pick. And with a relatively guard-heavy team, his impact as a valuable big on each end will be massive for how much the Trail Blazers can improve this year.

For a team that was the NBA's worst in defensive rebounding a year ago, Portland has found the right man in Clingan to hopefully catapult them higher in that department to increase their chances of bettering their 23rd ranked defense a year ago.

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