Blazers News: Chauncey Billups Reveals Unfortunate Injury Update on Donovan Clingan

The Blazers coach had an unfortunate update on the promising center.
Jan 14, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) shoots the ball over Brooklyn Nets forward Noah Clowney (21) during the second half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images
Jan 14, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) shoots the ball over Brooklyn Nets forward Noah Clowney (21) during the second half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images / Soobum Im-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers failed in their pursuit to make a run at the playoffs. At this point, they are going to pull the rip cord and chalk this year up as a lost season.

Right now, the Blazers are 13th in the Western Conference standings and have no hope of marching up to tenth for that final play-in spot. They will be sellers at the trade deadline.

One of the benefits of being a seller is that they can give even more time to the young guys who they think will be part of the core moving forward.

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Portland will be looking to move on from Jerami Grant since he is their most valuable asset. Robert Williams III can be had for the right price too, although they aren't actively shopping him.

No matter who they ship out, a guy they want to give more minutes to is Donovan Clingan. The rookie is someone they really like and see a lot of promise in.

Unfortunately, Clingan was hurt at the end of the Trail Blazers' 132-114 loss to the Nets. Before getting hurt, Clingan had four points 14 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.

According to head coach Chauncey Billups, Clingan hurt his ankle. They don't know how bad it is yet, but any time missed is disappointing for him.

Clingan had started to see an increase in minutes as of late. He had eclipsed 22 minutes of playing time in each of the last three games.

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Getting Clingan as many minutes as possible this season is crucial to his development. That's especially true if Portland decides to ship Deandre Ayton elsewhere in the offseason.

Portland sees him as part of their core moving forward. He's one of the few Blazers who won't be on the trade block.

It remains to be seen how much time Clingan is going to miss with that bum ankle. Portland certainly won't rush him back because they aren't playing for anything, but he needs more time on the court.

So far as a rookie this year, Clingan is averaging 5.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 1.5 blocks. He's also shooting 53.7 percent from the field and 30 percent from behind the 3-point line.

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