Summer League

[tester551]

It would come down to whether Portland would have been better off picking Edey and possibly
not doing the Deni trade and drafting Knecht or De Silva.

Edey in Portland would be a guy who would demand touches while Clingan will be a guy who will be asked to
play the role he played in college which is to rebound, play defense and protect the basket. Both Edey and
Clingan will be setting solid screens but I think Clingan will be an under-rated scorer, who likely has more to
show in his game

Watching Edey in the flow of the game yesterday changed my view on his "need" for touches, and offenses designed around him. He won't need touches to impact the offensive end...

It was surprising to me how ingrained that narrative was...
I thought it was obvious.

[zzaj]

Cling had not even played a game yet and it's OMG the sky is falling, we made the wrong choice oh the horror, RELAX!!

Nobody is saying the sky is falling...a couple of us are just pointing out that if the Blazers were looking for certain qualities--screen setting, rim protection, high BBIQ, rebounding and solid positional defense--they may have chosen the wrong guy.

But you're right, I definitely want to see Clingan play a bit. Edey's presence completely changed the complexion of the game yesterday, even against a very good young player in Walker Kessler. Let's hope that Clingan also brings that intangible stuff on both sides of the ball.

Lastly, we can't forget that the Blazers had both Edey and Clingan in the gym at the same time and they fell in love with Clingan...

[Norm2953]

Let's not get too carried away with the first game in the summer league.

The Blazers who had both Edey and Clingan preferred Clingan and likely loved his game
last season. They know what they will be getting long term for let's say he ends up being
better version of Joel Pryzbilla or a guy who won't need any plays called for him but will
average a double/double every night while providing shot blocking and setting the same
solid screens as Edey, for both guys are 275-300 lbs. He likely knows what his role will be
for it will be the same as it was at UConn.

I do loved Edey and would have picked him at 7 if Donovan ended up going before 7. Portland
was sitting in a good spot in the 2024 draft, for they were going to get their long term big
while the teams ahead of them chose the guys like Risacher, Sarr, Holland and Salaun
who will be projects

[m0ng0]

Cling had not even played a game yet and it's OMG the sky is falling, we made the wrong choice oh the horror, RELAX!!

Nobody is saying the sky is falling...a couple of us are just pointing out that if the Blazers were looking for certain qualities--screen setting, rim protection, high BBIQ, rebounding and solid positional defense--they may have chosen the wrong guy.

But you're right, I definitely want to see Clingan play a bit. Edey's presence completely changed the complexion of the game yesterday, even against a very good young player in Walker Kessler. Let's hope that Clingan also brings that intangible stuff on both sides of the ball.

Lastly, we can't forget that the Blazers had both Edey and Clingan in the gym at the same time and they fell in love with Clingan...

And we cannot forget this is JUST summer league, it just frustrates me with the knee-jerk reactions when we have not even seen our guy play yet...no worries still love ya

[Walton1one]

Edey looked good, Keyontae George looked like an undersized chucker, not a fan of his game. Collier had some up\down moments.

Cody Williams had some nice looking buckets between long stretches where he was invisible on the floor.

I thought Cam Spencer had some nice moments, he could have been picked at #52 by POR (would have been nice to have him in summer league with his teammate, Clingan) and signed a 2-way with MEM.

Actually, several 2nd round picks have signed 2-way deals in\around POR picks (40+) that they jettisoned for that all-important cash! Which disproves the whole "POR traded away #40\#52 because of roster space limitations (they have 2 open 2-ways) and players being unwilling to sign 2-way contracts" that POR mouthpieces like Casey Holdahl assured us were the reasons POR jettisoned those picks for essentially nothing.

[BlazersBroncos]

Edey looked good, Keyontae George looked like an undersized chucker, not a fan of his game. Collier had some up\down moments.

Cody Williams had some nice looking buckets between long stretches where he was invisible on the floor.

I thought Cam Spencer had some nice moments, he could have been picked at #52 by POR (would have been nice to have him in summer league with his teammate, Clingan) and signed a 2-way with MEM.

Actually, several 2nd round picks have signed 2-way deals in\around POR picks (40+) that they jettisoned for that all-important cash! Which disproves the whole "POR traded away #40\#52 because of roster space limitations (they have 2 open 2-ways) and players being unwilling to sign 2-way contracts" that POR mouthpieces like Casey Holdahl assured us were the reasons POR jettisoned those picks for essentially nothing.

That sounds like Cody Williams just being Cody Williams lol.

I liked Spencer quite a bit going into the draft. Arguably the best shooter in the class, and a very developed offensive skillset (He just clearly knew where to go on the floor on offense at a level above basically everyone else). I think he is probably a Sam Merrill caliber guy, which is a steal at 52 - whether he can defend well enough to play outside the regular season will be the big sticking point (I dont think he can - but doesnt mean he isnt a valuable bench guy in the regular season).

As for Clingon vs Edey. I liked both, had both in the top 7 or so. My worry is that we chose Clingan for the reasons some have said - he wont demand touches. Well, I dont think anyone on this roster has shown enough to put the draft evaluation in the 'well that guy wont demand touches so he fits'.

I am also unwilling to accept the shooting myth behind Donovan. A 58% FT shooter isnt making 3PT shots in the NBA. Guys that developed a 3 like Marc and Brook were good FT shooters.

That being said, Donovan has unbelievable feel on defense. There is a non-zero chance he is a near Gobert level defender. All advanced metrics show he changed the game defensively in college. So it was a younger guy with a lower floor but a chance to be a game changing defender vs an older guy with a higher floor and the ability to contribute more across the board but without the chance of being a game changing defender (And I dont mean Edey cant be a good defender - just not the same type of upside Clingan has).

[Norm2953]

Edey looked good, Keyontae George looked like an undersized chucker, not a fan of his game. Collier had some up\down moments.

Cody Williams had some nice looking buckets between long stretches where he was invisible on the floor.

I thought Cam Spencer had some nice moments, he could have been picked at #52 by POR (would have been nice to have him in summer league with his teammate, Clingan) and signed a 2-way with MEM.

Actually, several 2nd round picks have signed 2-way deals in\around POR picks (40+) that they jettisoned for that all-important cash! Which disproves the whole "POR traded away #40\#52 because of roster space limitations (they have 2 open 2-ways) and players being unwilling to sign 2-way contracts" that POR mouthpieces like Casey Holdahl assured us were the reasons POR jettisoned those picks for essentially nothing.

Hard to say for those same guys who signed two way deals elsewhere might not have wanted to do so
in Portland.

I had less issues with Portland not having a roster spot for they could have used Kolek whom they gave
away to the Knicks. In Portland, he might have the next Dave Twardzik. If he's a player, you make room
in Portland by letting Banton walk

[Walton1one]

Important to remember that Clingan is also almost 2 years younger than Edey, and I think he is a surprisingly good passer. I think the offense will come along more slowly than the defense for sure, but I think he will end up being more impactful in a game than Edey will be.

[cdubbz]

My guys Reed & Edey looked great so far. Both players had a lot of knock on them, but both will be good pros.

I wonder how the FVV/Reed minutes will go. They cant play together at the same time for the most part.

[zzaj]

Yeah, Reed looked like an NBA starter. I have to admit that seeing Da Silva look so good got me a little depressed...I really wanted him on the Blazers. He's already a better basketball player than any of Walker/Murray/Camara/Rupert...

EDIT: Also, it was never going to happen anyway...but Black on the Blazers became a less than zero chance after today's game. Dude looks like a stud on both ends of the ball, especially on defense.

[Norm2953]

It'll be interesting to track Edey and De Silva this season but Portland's preference
for Clingan and Deni will be fine for Portland.

At least with the path they chose, we wouldn't have to deal with all those trade scenarios
to get under the tax line. Portland is sitting in good shape for they can probably spin
Thybulle for picks to get a bit more flexibility with their roster.

[BlazersBroncos]

Reed looked phenominal. I am pretty happy we were not in a position to draft him - as I believe we would passed over him as we took Scoot last season, a move I think would go down as one of the bigger Blazers draft blunders of recent history.

[cdubbz]

I was only able to watch a quarter of the game, but my initial thoughts mirror a lot of what I see being posted. Edey looked better in his first game. More natural, maybe more comfortable. Not going to overreact though since it's game 1.

[Norm2953]

Portland is playing in their first summer league game and without a natural PG on the SL roster.

Donovan has got to get in better shape but should be able to do what he did at UConn which is
play defense, protect the basket, rebound, set screens, etc.

I would have been happy with Edey at 7 and perhaps Knecht or De Silva at 14 if Portland has not
done the Deni trade. Portland felt Clingan was a better fit for what they wanted as a long term
big. Early reports suggest Kolek who the Knicks got from Portland is going to be a player which
could be a problem for Portland if Scoot does not step up in season 2 for Portland without
Brogdon does not have another PG on the roster

[PDXKnight]

I base nothing on summer league especially in regards to big men. Donovan was the right pick, higher potential upside with his physical tools

[The Sebastian Express]

I liked his defensive presence, even though I preferred other picks over him.

[Walton1one]

I will mention this again, Clingan is two years younger than Edey and playing on a roster that is awful and burdened with horrible PG ‘s.

He went 1-9, 3 of those shots were 3pt FG, which he will not be asked to shoot, he was fouled on 2 other attempts, so 1-4 on other attempts, had only 1 nice actual post up attempt, which he scored with a nice lefty hook.

13 boards
5 blocks
and a total rim deterrent, defense was good, overall not bad for his 1st actual game.

This is what we can expect, when Cronin & co surround him with a bunch of sub par\non NBA players. There were way too many horrible interior passes/passes in general to count, the guards and other players could literally not get him the ball, pathetic.

[Walton1one]

Some other SL notes:

Sad seeing that Miller\Podz (GS) were playing, amongst other 1yr players who played a lot more/better than Scoot last year, and yet he is not playing, that’s just a poor decision, one of many by mgmt.

Also, I don’t want to hear that they’re saving him for the season when, as long as Ant is here, he will be coming off the bench\playing limited minutes anyway. This team is just so poorly run.

Kolek Looks good for NY, Might’ve been a pretty nice back up point guard prospect

Sheppard was great, Salaun looked raw but impressive, Knecht had a nice game after several sub par outings earlier

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Early returns are not great but basically as expected.

He was not quite as fluid or quick as I was hoping for (tough to see him staying in front of guards like you need elite switchable bigs to do) and he looked pretty gassed at times but he does a great job using his size, verticality and positioning to defend. Almost zero offensive skill tho, fumbled some interior passes (not always his fault) and looked uncomfortable posting up and shooting from what I saw (made his FTs tho!)

Of course summer league is not really suited to showing off bigs, and it would have been nice to have a real PG out there (why did we have to trade Kolek) so as long as Clingan is putting up rebounds and blocks then he is doing what we need him to do for now...

[BlazersBroncos]

Early returns are not great but basically as expected.

He was not quite as fluid or quick as I was hoping for (tough to see him staying in front of guards like you need elite switchable bigs to do) and he looked pretty gassed at times but he does a great job using his size, verticality and positioning to defend. Almost zero offensive skill tho, fumbled some interior passes (not always his fault) and looked uncomfortable posting up and shooting from what I saw (made his FTs tho!)

Of course summer league is not really suited to showing off bigs, and it would have been nice to have a real PG out there (why did we have to trade Kolek) so as long as Clingan is putting up rebounds and blocks then he is doing what we need him to do for now...

I think if you didn’t buy into the bunk reports that he had some offensive bag that UConn wouldn’t let him unlock, which was always wild, then he should have met expectations. A elite rebounder and arguably defensive savant that might be a rich man’s Prybilla on offense but has the work ethic and youth to not be that guy on offense as well.