After agreeing to a multi-year extension, Chauncey Billups and the Portland Trail Blazers decided to shake up his coaching staff. And Donovan Clingan is the Blazers player set to benefit the most from these changes.
In April, the Blazers parted ways with assistant coaches Roy Rogers, Chris Fleming, and Ryan Gomes, all of whom had expiring contracts. Late May, they brought in Quinton Crawford, who led the Stockton Kings to the G League championship in his first year. Around that same time, Portland decided to retain assistant coaches Nate Bjorkgren and Ronnie Burrell and analytics coach Jacob Mooallem.
With two assistant coaching spots remaining, the Blazers filled them with recent hires Patrick St. Andrews and Tiago Splitter. St. Andrews was Taylor Jenkins' lead assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies. Splitter has coaching experience with the Brooklyn Nets, Houston Rockets, and, most recently, as the head coach of Paris Basketball.
These are promising hires that will help the Blazers build off their 15-win improvement. But Clingan, in particular, should be thrilled about the addition of Splitter.
Tiago Splitter is exactly what Donovan Clingan needs
Splitter won a championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. He's had the opportunity to learn from the best coach of all time, Gregg Popovich, and one of the best bigs of all time, playing alongside Tim Duncan.
During his Rockets tenure, Splitter was credited by Alperen Sengun for playing a significant role in his development.
"Thiago helped me a lot. I improved my left hand with him because we are working a lot together. He's a champion, experienced, and is teaching me a lot of things about mentality, games, and off the court," Sengun told Locked on Rockets.
That's high praise, as Sengun has taken significant strides toward becoming an All-Star-level player. In 2022-23, one year before Splitter's arrival, Sengun averaged 14.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. Sengun then went on to have a breakout season, increasing his numbers to 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists with Splitter in the picture.
Every big not named Nikola Jokic could benefit from playing more like Sengun on the offensive end. Clingan's most glaring flaw is his conditioning level, but he also has plenty of room to grow offensively.
Currently, Clingan is overly reliant on being set up by teammates and has a limited offensive arsenal. However, he anticipates plays incredibly well -- something that is obvious in his rim protection but also makes him an underrated passer.
To a lesser extent, if the Blazers can find a way to turn Clingan into a hub like Sengun or help him establish a few go-to moves to become more of a threat in the post, he may have a higher two-way ceiling than many expect.
That's a long-term goal for Clingan to work toward. In the short term, Splitter's presence should immediately benefit him by instilling what it takes to become a champion at this level.
Deandre Ayton is talented, but he isn't the ideal mentor when it comes to setting an example with his inconsistent effort. And with Ayton potentially on the move this summer, the Blazers may need someone else to guide Clingan anyway.
Splitter is a perfect option to take Clingan under his wing and help him take that next step to become the Blazers' future starting center.