Donovan Clingan has arguably been the second-best player on the Portland Trail Blazers' roster throughout the season. Unfortunately, he's hitting a wall at the worst possible time, essentially becoming a non-factor in their playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs.
Clingan has been thoroughly outplayed by his backup, Robert Williams III. Now with a four-game sample size, head coach Tiago Splitter must make the switch to start Williams over Clingan for Game 5.
Clingan has had an incredible second-year breakout in Portland, justifying the decision to buy out Deandre Ayton last summer. But he still has his limitations as a drop coverage big, which is matchup-dependent. That's become a major problem for Portland, considering how many stretch fives and mobile bigs now exist in the modern NBA.
Blazers are better off starting Robert Williams III against the Spurs
It's even worse going against San Antonio, who not only have Victor Wembanyama but are also leading the entire playoffs in team three-point percentage at 42.3. Jrue Holiday and Toumani Camara deserve a ton of credit for holding their own on Wembanyama, which has helped mitigate some of their Clingan problem. But Williams has been far and away the better option at the five, providing them with a similar defensive anchor who is more of a lob threat and better equipped to chase these San Antonio shooters out on the perimeter.
The postseason is when matchups matter more than ever. Clingan will eventually have his time in a series down the road, and remains a key building block in Portland as one of the best defensive bigs in the league. He should also only continue to get better offensively, making the tradeoff more worth it for Portland to have him out there. But now, it's up to Splitter to make these adjustments, as the Blazers' back is suddenly against the wall after consecutive frustrating second-half collapses at home.
Winning this series against San Antonio was always going to be a long shot, but it was still incredibly beneficial for player development and evaluation. Regarding their frontcourt, Portland is finally seeing how valuable Williams truly is as a complementary piece for Clingan. We're also seeing how matchup-dependent Clingan is and the areas of his game he needs to work on to become a more consistent starting option.
There are games where he looks like the most dominant player on the court, and then there are games where Portland is better off without him, as the particular matchups make him a liability. Hopefully, it won't be to that extreme going forward as Clingan continues to get better.
But in the meantime, Portland is fighting to keep its playoff hopes alive. And it's clear Williams is the better option against Wembanyama and the Spurs.
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