Donovan Clingan and Deni Avdija are the two best players on the Portland Trail Blazers. Avdija is the team's All-Star, of course, and Clingan is the defensive anchor and perhaps the best rebounder in the league. Both are massively important for the present and the future of this franchise. Both make the team better when they're on the court.
So why do they have a minus-2.3 net rating when they share the floor? In other words, why doesn't the team thrive when its two best players (who obviously don't play the same position) share the court? Lastly, does it matter?
To answer the last question first: probably. You want the team to be at its best when the two best players are both on the court. But it's not like Tiago Splitter can do anything about it at this point. Deni and Donovan are obviously both starters for this team, and are both cornerstone pieces at key positions, wing creator and rim protector. So there isn't much else that can be done, besides playing them both and hoping that number improves.
It's not actually the worst plan, either, as there isn't a real reason why Avdija and Clingan don't dominate the minutes they share. It could be as simple as Avdija and Clingan playing so many of their shared minutes against the starting lineups of opponents, and the Blazers' starting unit doesn't have the firepower that other teams do.
Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan should work perfectly together
The strangest part about this situation is how both guys are so effective with seemingly everyone else on the team except each other. Clingan, for instance, has a plus-4.5 net rating when he shares the court with Jrue Holiday. Avdija has a plus-3.3 net rating when he shares the court with Holiday. But when all three are out there together? Minus-1.3.
It almost feels like a statistical anomoly that Avija and Clingan could be so productive on their own merits, so good with so many teammates, and not have that same success together. It's also hard to blame either of them for this, because we know how much better the team is with both of them.
The roster is going to look awfully different next season with Damian Lillard coming back and a hopefully healthy season from Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant. The head coach — whether it's Tiago Splitter or someone else under new ownership — will have plenty of tinkering to do to find the best combinations. Figuring out why their two best players don't feed off each other like fans would expect will be paramount.