NBA Draft: Donovan Clingan Reportedly In Play for Hawks, Wizards and Rockets

Donovan Clingan seems to be impressing in the pre-draft process.

Apr 8, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Connecticut Huskies center Donovan Clingan (32) reacts and rips his / Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Donovan Clingan, UConn’s 7-foot-3 behemoth center who helped lead the Huskies to back-to-back national championships, is starting to gain real steam as a top-three pick.

The draft expert consensus has long been that the draft doesn’t pack the same star-power as a typical year, and that could lead to teams taking shots on high-powered role players.

One of those would be Clingan, who with a massive frame expertly protects the rim, can defend on the perimeter and gets easy offense with an ever-improving post-game.

He’s long been lauded as a top-10 pick — even before leading the Huskies to another title — but now that his impressive measurements and intangibles are out, some think he could be in play within the top-three.

“As teams are meeting him, they know what the intel is on him,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said of Clingan’s pre-draft process on the Woj Pod. “The kind of teammate he’s been, the kind’ve leader he was — that’s been known through his time at UConn. [Givony] just talked to teams today and yesterday who started to get to spend time with him, and anybody around him knew that was only going to enhance his stock with teams.”

“That’s only going to help his case at No. 1, No. 2 with Washington or perhaps even No.3 with the Rockets.”

While Alex Sarr has thus far been the consensus No. 1 prospect, it’s not out of the question that Atlanta considers him as a massive rim-protector alongside Trae Young.

Washington, who recently started their rebuild, needs talent in near every position. And while the Rockets just traded for big man Steven Adams, he’s only got one year remaining on his deal.

It will be interesting to see how the 2024 NBA Draft shakes out, as each top selection will create a domino effect for those following.

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