Deandre Ayton gets dealt next offseason
The Blazers fixed their guard logjam by moving Malcolm Brogdon to the Wizards for Deni Avdija. But now they have another logjam at their center position after picking Clingan, the best available prospect, at No. 7 overall. They now have four centers and could trade Robert Williams III at some point, although they'd be wise to wait until he can prove he can consistently stay on the court to increase his trade value.
Regardless of what happens with RW3, Ayton seems to be a likely trade candidate as long as Clingan is close to the player he is in the regular season, as he displayed in the Summer League; this seems reasonable to expect as his rebounding and rim protection are skills that should translate to the next level for the 7-foot-2 big man.
Clingan, 20, fits the Blazers' rebuilding timeline better than the 26-year-old Ayton, but perhaps more importantly, he's significantly cheaper. Clingan is owed $6.8 million on his rookie deal, while Ayton is the highest-paid player on the Blazers' roster at $34 million next season.
The challenging part of moving Ayton is finding a team willing to take on his contract. The upcoming season could make sense to keep Ayton around as a transitional period for Clingan. He only played 22.5 minutes per game his sophomore season at UConn and needs time to improve his conditioning to play starter minutes in the NBA.
But the Blazers would be wise to trade Ayton at some point next season, whether in the offseason or at the trade deadline. Ayton's contract is up at the end of the 2025-26 season, and it doesn't make sense for Portland to re-sign him to a substantial deal that he will likely demand if Clingan is the center of the future, as expected.