He was definitely the guy that our front office and coach wanted and they're the ones who worked him out and interviewed him. They're the ones who have see what he could do. Going into the draft we were rumored to be willing to trade up to pick 3 or even 2 to get the guy that we got at 7. So I think our team got the guy that they see as the next best thing. Now, do I have a problem with his foot speed? Yeah I do. Do I think teams will be able to play him off the court his entire career? Again yeah. At the same time if this roster is constructed the right way (and I'm not sure I trust Joe to do that) Clingan can be a guy that we get to dictate as a mismatch for opponents. Clingan was either the best shot blocker or second best to Sarr (time will tell) in this draft and rim protection has been the thing we've been worst at statistically. Just imagine what that means, a team as bad as we've been is statistically shit in many categories and rim protection was our worst. If we make the right moves this was a brilliant pick. It definitely had high value at 7. I don't know how we kept Clingan from being taken at 6 but that was something I've never seen. I think the ideal situation is that we see Clingan get major minutes behind Deandre and some with him until the deadline and when it is obvious that they can't be effective together that we trade Deandre at the deadline. Hopefully we'll have added some other pieces via trades of Jerami and Ant that go down before training camp. The thing I hope for the most is that when the dust settles and we're watching this team post all star break is that we have a roster that makes sense with a ton of variety/versatility and very little redundancy. A group of players that complement each other and all have a lot of room for growth. I think Clingan could be a part of that group and even a crucial part.
"I don't know how we kept Clingan from being taken at 6 " I'm assuming Charlotte valued Tidjuan Salaun and cared about drafting him, over Cody Williams, who was the next forward drafted.
Yeah it was just really funny to see Shams report the trade and then moments later it wasn't a thing anymore. You're probably right that Joe probably called Charlotte and said that he'd take Salaun if Clingan wasn't there at 7. It's just not something that I've seen happen that when a team was on the clock a trade got reported by Shams or Woj that was then reneged on.
Agreed 100%. We don’t even need him to ever become Rudy Gobert. We just need someone who who can average 10+rpg and protect the rim for the next 6-8 years. I’d be perfectly happy if he eventually became Steven Adams with his screen setting but much better defensively. It’d be awesome if Clingan ever developed a shot. But Clingan’s ppg average will be a product of how good everyone around him is. Scoot and Shae, we hope will eventually draw a lot of attention from the defense. Avdija will start turning into someone who will, I really believe he is a better prospect than Markkanen ever was. This next draft is supposedly eight potential superstars deep, we will probably get a hand at one of those guys. These guys are going to be the reason he averages 8ppg, or 16ppg.
this season. yeah, the Blazers sucked at opponent FG% at the rim. They were 28th but, that's not the way it has been: 2023-24: 28th (bye bye Nurkic; hello Ayton) 2022-23: 7th (Nurkic + Eubanks) 2021-22: 16th (Nurkic 56 games; Cronin dismantles) 2020-21: 20th (Nurkic only 37 games; Kanter 72) 2019-20: 2nd (Whiteside) 2018-19: 3rd (Nurkic + Zach)
Oh yeah, I was just talking about this last season. It's not like how opponent three point percentage plagued us during certain stretches of the Dame era or anything. I was just saying with how shitty we were last season, we were likely the most shitty at protecting the rim.
Are you Klinker's agent? You've posted in other threads, too, to get rid of Ayton. Klinkyfeet won't take Ayton's job till Ayton looks like Abe Lincoln.
Not a great take at all. He's going to be a walking double double and flirt with some triple doubles.
Pretty rare for a center to get up to NBA speed in their rookie season. The good thing is that Clingan was coached by probably the greatest coach in college hoops and he has the mind to absorb coaching. Impressive kid actually
I just hope we have the best bench mob in the league...depth is important and we have a lot of talented players coming off the pine
You can tell he has a great feel for the game, he just needs some time to adjust to the speed of the game and develop confidence. They should hire a legit big man coach to work with him on his offensive game.
We drafted a player, not an archetype. I guess we'll see, won't we? Alex Sarr is of the modern archetype, right?
Not yet, but he is growing on me. I’ve been plenty wrong about the draft before so I’ll gladly eat crow if he becomes effective in the regular season.
I was a "Meh" guy, but I'm sold now. He will be a very good defensive presence. I think his shot will come around and at least be respectable too.