Grading Donovan Clingan's Blazers debut that raised more questions than answers

With Robert Williams III still out with a hamstring strain, Donovan Clingan was expected to step up with an increased role in the regular-season opener, especially due to the Portland Trail Blazers' size advantage over the more talented yet smaller Golden State Warriors. However, Clingan surprisingly played just 13 minutes in the Blazers' 139-104 loss to the Warriors.

Why didn't Chauncey Billups play Donovan Clingan more?

The Blazers' No. 7 overall pick finished with just two points, two rebounds, one steal, one block, and one turnover in what appeared to be an inviting matchup for him. It's understandable that Clingan didn't see significant minutes. He only played 22.5 minutes per game during his sophomore season at UConn, and he needs to ramp up his conditioning to play impactful, long stretches at the NBA level.

Still, head coach Chauncey Billups should have played Clingan more. He only had seven minutes in the first half when they were down 62-50. They also lost the rebounding battle at half, 35 to 26.

The Blazers were clearly outmatched on paper in terms of talent. The one thing they had in their favor was their roster size as the tallest team in the NBA this season. Not playing their 7-foot-2, 282-pound center for at least 20 minutes is a disservice to the one advantage they had that would potentially allow them to pull off the upset.

Billups could have even experimented with a "Twin Towers" lineup with Ayton and either Clingan or Duop Reath (who only saw three garbage time minutes) on the court together. While it would have compromised their floor spacing offensively and made them vulnerable to giving up more open looks from three on defense, the Warriors still shot 41.7 percent from deep and won the game by 35—it's not like they had much to lose in terms of experimenting with unique lineups.

Areas of improvement for Clingan

Clingan needs to improve at stepping up to shooters when he switches in pick and rolls. There were multiple instances where guards like Buddy Hield and De'Anthony Melton hit threes because he wasn't contesting the shot close enough.

But the Warriors immediately felt Clingan's defensive paint presence when he was in. They seemed more reluctant to attempt shots in the paint, and the Blazers' team strength of their size compared to the Warriors was much more apparent when he was in compared to Ayton.

Offensively, Clingan was only effective when a guard set him up for a wide-open look in the paint. That was to be expected, as a lot of what made him a coveted draft prospect came from what Clingan offered outside of his scoring, impacting winning with his rebounding, rim protection, passing, and overall basketball IQ.

Ayton was expected to take advantage of the Warriors' lack of size more in terms of scoring but only finished with ten points on 5-12 shooting from the field.

Clingan's season opener was highly disappointing, as he didn't make his two-way presence felt as much as expected. There were promising signs, particularly on defense, but it's hard to gain much momentum as a player if you only log 13 minutes.

This grade has as much to do with Billups' inability to play a rookie who was a top-ten pick in a blowout loss for a rebuilding team as it does Clingan.

Grade: D