A G League efficiency leader reunites with former UConn teammate Donovan Clingan as Portland bets on the 6-foot-10 big man’s elite finishing and championship-winning defensive upside.
The Portland Trail Blazers made a move this week that also acts as a reunion in the frontcourt: Portland has signed center Samson Johnson, bringing the 6-foot-10 UConn product back together with his old college teammate Donovan Clingan.
Johnson's path to Rip City was not direct. He went undrafted out of college in 2025 and signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Indiana Pacers that June.
He didn't survive training camp, getting waived about three months later, but he landed on his feet with the Noblesville Boom, Indiana's G League affiliate.
It turned out to be a great situation for the young big. Johnson was one of the most efficient bigs in the entire G League last season, leading all players with at least 30 games played in field-goal percentage at 70.3, while grabbing 4.5 boards a night.
That kind of finishing efficiency is what got Portland's attention. Rip City Remix, the Blazers' G League team, worked out a trade with Noblesville to acquire the rights to Johnson.
The Remix sent forward Andrew Carr, guard Jamiya Neal and a 2027 second-round pick in exchange for Johnson.
For Blazers fans who watched Clingan become one of the league's premier young rebounders after Portland drafted him seventh overall in 2024, Johnson's name should ring a bell.
He played sparingly behind Clingan on those dominant Husky squads that won back-to-back NCAA championships.
Then, finally as a senior, starting at center and splitting time with Tarris Reed Jr., he made the most of his opportunity, leading the Big East in offensive rating and ranking in the top five in offensive rebounding rate, block percentage and field-goal percentage.
His basketball journey started well before college too. Johnson was born in Togo and moved through Senegal and Florida before settling in New Jersey, where he teamed up with fellow West African native Adama Sanogo at The Patrick School, a pipeline for UConn rosters.
Blazers fans should not expect Johnson to be handed rotation minutes off the rip on opening night. This is a depth and developmental move, giving Portland another long big to stash behind Clingan and others like Yang Hansen.
The efficiency Johnson brings does not happen by accident. The signing gives Portland a low-risk, potentially high-reward addition to their roster.
For a Blazers front office that's been patient about building through the margins as much as through the draft, Johnson is a name worth watching.
