Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin entered the first round of the NBA draft Wednesday night with a name swirling around in his head.
Donovan Clingan.
The 7-foot-4 center from Connecticut caught the attention of his scouts last season as a freshman. After the staff evaluated Clingan extensively during his sophomore season, the franchise was convinced he could be a draft target. That sentiment remained even after the team signed about 50 players for workouts.
But by Wednesday, it was unclear whether Clingan would be available to the Blazers at No. 7. Cronin considered trading up. But that proved futile.
As if by fate, Clingan slipped past other teams that could have used a young, shot-blocking center. And by the time the Blazers were on the clock, Clingan’s selection was a mere formality.
“Donovan Clingan, who is a player that we’re really high on, a player that we ranked really high on, a player that we think is going to be a great addition to this franchise, for a lot of reasons,” Cronin said at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin after the first round. “Who he is as a person. The type of player that he is. The defensive prowess that he brings. The winning mentality. A lot of good features. And Donovan has an extremely bright future.”
The second round of the draft begins Thursday at 1 p.m. The Blazers have picks No. 34 and 40.
Before the start of the first round, news broke that the Blazers had sent guard Malcolm Brogdon, the No. 14 pick in this year’s draft, the second-most favorable of Portland’s three first-round picks in 2029, and two future second-round picks to the Wizards for 6-9 forward Deni Avdija, 23.
Cronin said he could not speak about the deal Wednesday because it had not been officially finalized.
“We have a trade that has been announced,” he said. “I can’t talk about it tonight at this press conference. I’ll probably come back to that in a couple of weeks.”
The addition of Avdija and Clingan, in conjunction with the trade of Brogdon (6-3), significantly improves the overall size of the team.
“Getting more physical, more athletic and bigger has been a constant priority for us, and I think we did that today,” Cronin said.
May’s draft didn’t go the way the Blazers had hoped. They entered the process with the fourth-best odds to land the No. 1 pick and fell to No. 7. But Cronin felt they would still be in play for someone like Clingan.
“When the lottery went the way it did, we thought maybe there was a chance,” Cronin said. “It’s just tough. You never know how things are going to go, especially in six weeks.”
Some mock drafts predicted Clingan would come off the board in the top five. But there were plenty later in the process that dropped Clingan to #7.
“Even before tonight’s draft, I thought it was one of those where it was really hard to predict what was going to happen between picks three and six,” Cronin said.
It turned out that everything went the Blazers’ way.
“For us, it was one of the easiest picks we could make,” Cronin said.
Where did the Blazers have Clingan on their draft board? Cronin wouldn’t say.
“I don’t like to give a number just because I don’t want to put any extra pressure on him, but we got him higher than we took him,” Cronin said.
Last season, Clingan averaged 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in 22.5 minutes per game. He shot 63.9 percent from the field while finishing well around the basket. But he didn’t excel as a mid-range or three-point shooter (2 of 9 in his career). He also shot just 58.2 percent from the free throw line, compared to 51.7 percent as a freshman.
His obvious strength is as an interior defender. Last season, he averaged 2.5 blocked shots per game. Cronin has been praised for his defensive IQ while functioning as a rim-protecting drop big.
“I think Donovan is going to be a nice, versatile defender who, overall, is just going to make our defense stronger,” Cronin said.
Offensively, Cronin said he believes Clingan has the ability to develop as a shooter.
“He’s pretty comfortable and he’s got a good touch,” Cronin said. “Shooting in the NBA is complicated and difficult, even for a lot of guards coming up. He has a lot of work to do. But I love his touch, his hands, his precision and just his skills in general. »
Cronin also expects Clingan to excel within the offense as a distributor from the post.
“My favorite thing about him offensively is he’s an underrated passer,” Cronin said.
Perhaps the most important evaluation is how Clingan will fit with point guard Scoot Henderson, the team’s third-overall selection in last year’s draft.
“I think anytime you get a defensive anchor that could play behind your talented guards, I think that plays a big role,” Cronin said. “But also, someone who can do a good job on the other side of the ball. He’s an excellent screenwriter. He’ll be a good guy. He has great hands. He has a good feeling. He can pass. He has work to do like many young big men, but we like where he’s headed, skill-wise.
One aspect of Clingan’s selection that can’t be ignored is that the Blazers already have a starting center. They traded for Deandre Ayton last summer to make the former first overall pick (2018) a star after five solid but underperforming seasons with the Phoenix Suns.
Ayton, 25, started slowly last season but has played well over the last two months, drawing praise from Cronin and coach Chauncey Billups.
Clingan’s arrival calls into question Ayton’s future with the Blazers. But Cronin essentially said it was too early to comment on that.
“We’re really excited about Deandre,” Cronin said. “I mean, obviously we scouted him last summer, and I think we saw some really good things from him as the season went on. I mean, DeAndre is incredibly talented and a really good player in this league. »
And now he has competition.
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— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)