Overall, Donovan Clingan has been great in his second year with the Portland Trail Blazers. They have locked down their starting center of the future with the way he's progressed. The most significant impact comes on the defensive end as Portland has a legitimate anchor on its interior.
At 7-foot-2, 280 pounds, Clingan has rare physical tools that make him an elite rebounder and rim protector. That was the case at UConn and has translated to the NBA, as many expected, given that he was viewed as one of the safest picks in a weak and uncertain 2024 draft class.
But in life and in the NBA, sometimes a person's most significant strength can also be their biggest weakness. Clingan excels in drop coverage and can control the paint with the best of them, but gets exposed out on the perimeter far too often.
Donovan Clingan is getting exposed out on the perimeter
He had trouble matching up with the quicker Jarrett Allen in Portland's 130-111 blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Allen finished with 40 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks.
In general, he was exposed in Portland's most recent 130-125 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Clingan started the game off strong, connecting on three three-pointers early in the game. It even had the makings of a bounce-back game, that is, until Phoenix hunted for mismatches out on the perimeter.
The Suns connected on 20-41 (49%) of their attempts from beyond the arc, many of which against Clingan, who was frequently forced to switch out onto a smaller guard. There were multiple occasions when he wouldn't step up enough on a screen, giving red-hot Collin Gillespie and Grayson Allen way too much room to operate.
Some of that is by design, as head coach Tiago Splitter wants Clingan to play to his strengths and control the paint for Portland. But some of that is simply a weakness in Clingan's game.
There were far too many times when he was stuck in no man's land, wanting to close out but a second too late, whether that was due to indecision or being flat-footed. This is an area of Clingan's game that will never be a strength, but he needs to address the weakness to the point where he can stay on the court regardless of matchups.
Right now, he's only impactful in specific situations. If he's going against a three-point-heavy team like the Suns or a quicker center like Allen, it's no longer to Portland's advantage to have him out there. The issue is that there are so many teams that fit that criteria in the modern NBA.
Even if Clingan can't hold his own out on the perimeter, he needs to refine his offensive skillset to punish smaller teams. There's currently no tradeoff for Portland, and it's causing one of their building blocks to be played off the court.