Do you hate shooting? Do you hate fast-paced offense? Do you love clogged paints? Well then I have just the thing for you — and it's a firm handshake, because you sound like my kind of sicko. The Portland Trail Blazers also have something for you, and it's a lineup with both second-year center Donovan Clingan and rookie center Yang Hansen. Who says the old NBA is dead?
The two-big lineup has become popular once more in the modern NBA, though with one important stipulation. One of those big men usually knows how to shoot. That's not the case in Portland. At all. Donovan Clingan made a total of 14 longballs in his rookie season on 49 attempts (that's 28.6%). Yang Hansen put up similar numbers during his two seasons in the CBA, shooting 29.1% on under one attempt per game. Defenses will, simply put, not be rushing to close out on either guy when they're on the perimeter.
Clingan or Yang could become relevant as a shooter, but don't expect drastic improvements this season — meaning the Blazers' two-big lineups would be much more banging down low than pulling the defense out.
Will a lineup with both bigs work for the Blazers? Who knows! It would make the most sense if the Blazers flanked their two bigs with as much offensive upside as possible. A Jrue / Shaedon / Deni / Clingan / Yang lineup does sound entertaining at the very least. But this won't be a starting (or closing) lineup, at least to start; more experimental than everyday, if you will.
Blazers will likely experiment with a two-big lineup that can't shoot
Again, the two-big lineup itself isn't rare. The Cleveland Cavaliers, perhaps the most prominent example of the two-big lineup, start both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. But Mobley's improved shooting throughout his career (he was up to 37% on over three attempts per game last year) has made the spacing much easier for that team.
Portland's approach would be... atypical. NBA analyst Steve Jones Jr. gave some thoughts on the Blazers rolling out both young big men on The Kevin O'Connor Show:
"In my mind I'm thinking 'get a big, get a switch, throw it in, we do it with the other one, we just consistently do that.' That could work. Now, how long it would work, I'm not exactly sure. But you could, like, mash a team for 4 to 5 minutes in the second quarter, in my opinion. Defensively... that's where you would have to make sure they're good on that end, because if you have two bigs in drop it's not necessarily ideal..."
Yang's passing could unlock the potential of this combination
What this lineup lacks in shooting, it could well make up for in passing. Yang Hansen's vision and distribution was the story of Summer League, and his potential ability to be used as an offensive hub could solve the spacing problem that he and Clingan's shooting deficiencies would create. His vision, both at the top of the key and while in the paint, creates a potentially fascinating decision for defenses. They wouldn't be forced to close out on Yang because of his shooting, but leaving him alone wouldn't work either, because he'll just find creative ways to feed Clingan down low or find a slasher cutting to the hoop.
Cauncey Billups has some pretty fun lineup combinations he can trot out next year, and a two-center frontcourt with a combined height of 14 feet, 4 inches might be the most intriguing of them all.