Trail Blazers News: Projecting Donovan Clingan's Fit with Portland Guards

Matt Levine | Jul 25, 2024

The Portland Trail Blazers picking center Donovan Clingan out of UConn in the first round of the NBA Draft this year could end up being one of the steals of the class. Clingan helped UConn win back-to-back NCAA titles and should fit in well with the younger talent that Portland has accumulated already.

J. Kyle Mann of The Ringer unpacked how Clingan would fit alongside the young guards that Portland has on the team. His development and the overall success of the Trail Blazers will be determined by how he can build chemistry.

"You can project what Clingan and Portland’s handful of young guards might do together. His screening and simple passing were visible here, and that should be a valuable downhill tool for Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, two scoring-tilted guards. The other aspects will take some time—craft around the basket has always been a question for me with Cling Kong. Against physical pressure around the rim, he was frequently just using his shoulder to go up and over defenders, which by and large worked at the college level. Since he’s not a dunk-everything type of player, catching and finishing in traffic in the NBA will require a more dynamic approach."

Clingan is a much more defensive-minded type of player but his offensive game can be strong at times. While he won't be one of the most physical players in the league, he will have to adapt his game to the NBA level.

He will have to be clever with how he attacks the rim as the NBA has plenty of strong defenders in the paint. But Clingan's size could help him as he stands at 7-foot-2.

Having guards such as Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe will potentially open the lane up for Clingan, giving him some easy attempts at the basket. The Trail Blazers want to be more competitive and Clingan is one of the first steps toward them getting back to competing.

Portland has a young nucleus that will need to grow together but the talent is there. It may take some time but the addition of Clingan is exactly what this team has been missing over the last few years.

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