One Blazers Player Could Emerge As Intriguing Fantasy Flier Pick This Season

An intriguing buy-low candidate emerges in Portland for fantasy team owners.

Jan 17, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Detailed view of a Portland Trail Blazers logo warmup jersey before the game against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Rookie Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan, 20, may not get significant run during his debut NBA season. But when he does crack the rotation, the 7-foot-2 big man could emerge as an intriguing late-round fantasy option.

That's because Clingan already was stuffing stat sheets during his four Las Vegas Summer League bouts with Portland. Clingan's shooting stats were not particularly impressive (he averaged 9.0 points on .357/.231/.500 shooting splits), but he logged a stunning 12.3 rebounds and 4.3 blocks in just 25.4 minutes of play. If given run on a doomed 2024-25 Trail Blazers club, he could probably log similar numbers. Of course, there is a not-insignificant logjam at the center position, with veterans Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III earning a combined $46.4 million in 2024-25. Duop Reath, who enjoyed a breakout rookie season in 2023-24 as mostly a bench, has proven that he, too, deserve some minutes, though his development is obviously secondary to Clingan's, who has the higher upside.

Fantasy owners in deep category leagues could certainly do a lot worse than taking a chance on Clingan, but in fairness it's very unclear just how much time will be allocated for Clingan this year, at least to start the season.

It seems quite possible that one or both of Ayton and Williams will be offloaded in a trade before their contracts expire, at the end of the 2025-26 season. Clingan's development timeline, ostensibly, aligns nicely with young stars Shaedon Sharpe, 21, and Scoot Henderson, 20. Ayton and Williams, meanwhile, are both 26. Reath is 28, but he is still on a rookie-scale contract and thus makes sense to keep around for a good long while.

For now, at least look to see Clingan share spot backup center minutes with Williams — whenever the latter is healthy. The 2023 All-Defensive Second Teamer suited up for just six games with Portland in 2023-24. He averaged 6.8 points on 65.4 percent field goal shooting and 77.8 percent foul line shooting, 6.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks a night. Williams has always missed at least 20 games across each of his six NBA seasons, and has missed at least 47 regular season contests in four of those seasons. All of this is to say — there's a pretty good chance both Reap and Clingan will at least get some minutes behind Ayton, even if Williams isn't traded this year.

More Blazers: Insider Projects How Portland Will Handle Trade Pitches for Deandre Ayton, Robert Williams