Clingan has exceeded early expectations.
Donovan Clingan was a phenomenal pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2024 NBA Draft, taken No. 7 overall after a pair of incredible seasons with the UConn Huskies. And while he came into the NBA with his fair share of concerns and areas for improvement, he has been as good as, if not better than, Portland could have hoped for, even considering how highly the organization appeared to think of him during the pre-draft process.
The 2024 NBA Draft was not viewed as an especially strong class going in, and for the most part that perception has held up, even if a few players have outperformed early expectations. That is what makes Clingan’s value even more notable. There is a real case to be made that he has been a top-three player from this class to this point, and he has undoubtedly been one of the two best big men in the group.
Portland didn’t just land a useful rotation player at No. 7. It landed someone who already looks like one of the best outcomes in the entire class.
This recent re-draft from Underdog does a decent job of showing which players have exceeded expectations, which ones have underwhelmed, and how the class might be reordered today. But outside of Kyshawn George being placed ahead of Clingan, it is mostly a fair reflection of how things currently look.
George has absolutely been one of the pleasant surprises of the class, especially when you consider where he was originally drafted. He has been better than expected and has flashed real scoring upside. But overall, Clingan has simply been the better player. There are fair arguments for Stephon Castle and Alexandre Sarr to be ahead of him right now, but outside of those two, Clingan has a very strong case to be next.
And that is what should have Trail Blazers fans excited. Everything in the draft is about value and getting the most out of your picks. When you can take a player at No. 7 who, at this point in these players’ careers, has a legitimate case to go no lower than third in a re-draft, you have done something right.
That doesn’t mean Clingan will always hold that spot. Every player develops differently, and this class will almost certainly look very different five years from now than it does today, just like it looked different on draft night than it does now. But at least for now, the Blazers have clearly gained value with the Clingan pick, and in any re-draft at this point in time, No. 3 should be the absolute latest he comes off the board.