Blazers News: Donovan Clingan Upset With Lackluster NBA Debut

Matt Levine | 4 Hours Ago

Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

With the new NBA season having started, the Portland Trail Blazers are looking to have a much better season this time around. They finished with a record of 21-61 and found themselves sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference standings last year.

Now, entering this season, it's more about the growth and development of their young core rather than focusing on wins. Portland has done a good job of building a strong core of talented players who need more reps in the league to find success.

One of the players that Portland is very high on is rookie center Donovan Clingan. Clingan was taken with the No. 7 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and made his debut in the team's blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors.

He finished the game by scoring two points and two rebounds over 12 minutes of game time. After the game, he expressed frustration with his performance, saying that he knew he could have done more for the team.

“I‘m definitely not happy, just the way I played,” he said following Thursday’s practice. “I felt I could have had a bigger impact in my minutes and I could have done a lot of things better. I’m just going to learn from them and be better tomorrow.”

If the Trail Blazers are going to do anything of substance over the next few years, Clingan is going to be a key piece to what they do. The team is extremely high on his upside and they want to give him the minutes to get more reps in the league.

The rookie understands that he needs to be more vocal while on the floor. It's rare to see a rookie have this type of accountability after just one game but it's one of the reasons that Portland drafted him.

“I didn’t talk enough,” he said. “I could have been louder in the back of the defense. I could have communicated with the guards, with everyone more. That’s something that I could have done better that could have helped us win.”

He brings a winning culture to the Trail Blazers after helping the University of Connecticut win two straight national titles. If he can find success with the Trail Blazers, it would be a massive step forward for this organization and they may finally be able to compete for the playoffs.

More Trail Blazers: Blazers vs Pelicans, Zion Williamson's Game Status For Matchup Revealed