Trail Blazers: Donovan Clingan’s Case for Rookie of the Year

Clingan might have a legitimate shot at bringing home some hardware in the 2024-25 NBA season.

Jul 15, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) shoots the ball against Philadelphia 76ers center Tony Bradley (31) during the first half at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports / Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

Last year, aside from a strong start from Chet Holmgren, San Antonio center Victor Wembanyama ran away with the Rookie of the Year Award. As was easily predicted by the pre-season odds.

But the upcoming season isn’t likely to be so straightforward.

As has been the case with the 2024 NBA Draft several times now, there’s a general aura of murkiness. And that’s easily translatable to the 2024-25 Rookie of the Year Award.

Currently, the ninth-picked Zach Edey and Rockets’ guard Reed Sheppard — who was miraculous in Summer League — occupy the top spots for the award on most betting sites. And rightfully so, as they’re great players who landed in perfect spots.

But Portland’s Donovan Clingan may hold the most easily translatable skill in the class in his interior defense, which could pry open a real path toward Rookie of the Year.

Drafted at No. 7 overall by Portland, Clingan was likely the top big man prospect in the class, following Alex Sarr, mainly due to his defensive impact on the back-to-back champion UConn squad.

The Trail Blazers roster, and more specifically its frontcourt, is a bit crowded on contributors at the moment. But the franchise spending their top pick on Clingan almost certainly pencils him in for plenty of playing time this season.

He isn’t likely to be flashy offensively. But in a class where there might not be a ton of flash out the gate, his premier defense is going to stick out. Clingan averaged 4.3 blocks per game at the 2024 Summer League, a league record. And his immense frame at 7-foot-2 is sure to carry plenty of that production over to the NBA.

If he can see average stats across the board while playing team-altering defense, there’s a great chance that would put him in position to take home Rookie of the Year.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.