The Portland Trail Blazers are still in the early stages of a rebuild but have a major silver lining in rookie Donovan Clingan. Clingan has been as good as advertised as a shot blocker, rim protector, and rebounder. In fact, he ranks third in the league in blocked shots as a rookie. An impressive feat that suggests that he could be a dominant rim protector for years to come.
Donovan Clingan is blocking shots at an alarming rate
— Taylor Wyman (@taylormetrics) November 23, 2024
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That bodes well for the Blazers, who face a long rebuild with only a handful of long-term players on the roster. While they have seen players like Shaedon Sharpe show flashes of greatness, 2023 3rd overall, Scoot Henderson, has struggled over his first season plus in the NBA.
He could still pan out, but he hasn't looked anywhere near as NBA-ready as many thought that he would after spending two seasons in the G League prior to being drafted. If he turns out to be a draft bust, then that sets the Blazers back.
On the other hand, they have been surprisingly competitive in the Western Conference thus far, with Clingan helping. That includes him recently snatching 19 rebounds and swatting three shots in just 26 minutes in a road win against the much-improved Houston Rockets.
Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan gives them a starting point for the future.
The Blazers' solid start may cost them a high lottery pick in the 2025 NBA draft and a chance to potentially draft a star to build around. The obvious player would be Duke power forward Cooper Flagg, who is seen as a potential shoo-in to be the number one overall pick.
With their center of the future seeming in place with Clingan, pairing Flagg with him would be a dream scenario for both the Blazers and their fans. That would give them a potentially dominant defensive tandem, with Flagg also being an elite offensive prospect.
Whether that happened or not is still up in the air. In the meantime, Blazers fans will get a chance to see more of Clingan, who isn't yet a full-time starter but should be before the end of the season.
His stout defense should give the Blazers a defensive floor with his size and length being able to clog the paint and force defenders to settle for mid-range jumpers and floaters rather than layups and dunks. That may not seem like a huge difference, but statistically speaking, jumpers and floaters are shots players only hit 40 to 45% of the time. Compare that to shots within three feet of the rim, where players hit around 64% of those shots.
With Clingan defending them, players are shooting only 44.9% in the restricted area and 41.9% overall. For comparison, Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Victor Wembanyama is allowing 40.7% and 38.1%, respectively. For Clingan to be in the same neighborhood as him as a rookie is encouraging, and he should only get better, giving the Blazers something to build around.