Donovan Clingan's dominant presence fuels Blazers wins. His size and skill create opportunities, solidifying his role as Portland's unexpected game-changer.
Earlier this week, Donovan Clingan was named the Portland Trail Blazers’ unsung hero, and that evaluation has proven to be spot on of late.
In the two games since, the rising big has scored 49 points on efficient scoring while pulling down 25 boards. Portland has won both of these games as well, with his breakout of late proving to be a significant catalyst in the Blazers’ success.
What makes Clingan so special is his physical presence. Standing at 7-foot-2 and 280 pounds, the 22-year-old simply takes up space, and that matters a lot on the defensive end.
Dating back to his college days at UConn, he has always been an extremely impactful defender because of his sheer size. But it is not just size alone. He also has the skill to go with it. He is a quality shot blocker, an excellent defensive rebounder, and overall just clogs up a ton of space. That is an underrated part of what he brings to the table. It does not always show up in the box score, but he directly deters what teams want to do at the rim, whether he actually records the block or not.
On the offensive end, that size matters too because teams have to put a body on him. He is a lob threat, and if he catches the ball in the post, he is capable of making moves. That means defenses have to account for him in specific ways, which can open lanes for others even though he operates mostly near the rim. He also has the ability to step out and knock down triples. It is not at an elite rate, but it is enough that defenses have to respect it, especially with him taking more than three 3-point attempts per game this season.
These are value adds that only Clingan can provide. Nobody else on this Portland roster can make the kind of impact that he can, in these specific ways.
As such, Clingan is absolutely the Blazers’ unsung hero and x-factor moving forward the rest of the season and into the play-in tournament.