2024 Draft Prospect: Donovan Clingan

[fatlever]

I think he'll be gone

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[JustBuzzin]

I think he'll be gone

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I hope so.

[Rich4114]

If there are no trades and Clingan isn't picked in the top 3, then I see him being there at 6. I can't imagine SAS picking him when their biggest strength is C obviously and their biggest weakness is guard/wing.

I'd love to walk away with Clingan. I've stated why many times, but since we're in the dedicated Clingan thread it's purely from the fact he's the safest prospect in the lottery, offers an elite skillset in shot blocking, projects as a really good paint defender overall and can help improve our rebounding.

"But what about fit, we have Mark Williams and Nick Richards"

Well, let me address that too. I'll start with Mark. I think Mark is the better player because of his length and soft touch around the rim. I think if Mark can remain healthy, he's 80% our starting C of the long term/future. But I have reason to have a fair amount of doubt given his injury is back related and that can be detrimental especially for a guy 7 feet tall. He has not proven he can remain on the court so we're just talking about potential here. I'm done being bitten by potential only to realize, we made subsequent decisions based off of that and now we're screwed. Clingan has the potential to be as good or better than Mark. I like having two prospects with this upside, especially given the NBA is moving back to a big mans league where size is going to win. We are currently undersized once you get beyond SF.

Second, we have Nick Richards. Do I need to justify this one? Nick had ALL the opportunity in the world to showcase if he was a long-term fit for backup C and what I saw all season was Nick constantly in the way on offense, out of position, late to set screens, not able to get loose balls, poor defensive rebounding, leading the league BY FAR in goaltending and a ton of other mistakes. He has been admirable at put back dunks, rim run dunks and offensive rebounding but overall is clearly NOT a backup C you can depend on for big mins. He's a 3rd C or career g leaguer.

So we draft Clingan, Mark stays healthy and now we've got a playoff caliber C rotation to help defensively, rebounding, shot blocking, rim running and put backs. Clingan may also have a post game we could go to sometimes.

Will this matter? Probably not because I think Clingan is going top 3 or there will be a small trade up into the top 5 for him.

[yosemiteben]

Not to beat a dead horse, but are Clingan fans not at all concerned about the multiple foot injuries?

Not to be reductive, but I always thought big man + foot injuries = uhoh

[Rich4114]

Not to beat a dead horse, but are Clingan fans not at all concerned about the multiple foot injuries?

Not to be reductive, but I always thought big man + foot injuries = uhoh

I haven't done much research on it. I just trust the teams scouting him have. Joel Embiid started his career off with a foot injury. Now Chet has too. It's not the end of the world depending on the injury and rehab.

[Bassman]

@Rich4114, your points are good ones, in that a weak position for us could be very strong if Mark is healthy plus Clingan sharing those minutes. Richards could be a deep reserve or traded for other assets.

Hornets target Clingan because they have Mark concerns but also because they like him for this team. They also may be planning to aquire a shooting guard or SF via free agency/trade to fit with Melo and Miller. If so why take an unproven guard in the draft?

[Rich4114]

@Rich4114, your points are good ones, in that a weak position for us could be very strong if Mark is healthy plus Clingan sharing those minutes. Richards could be a deep reserve or traded for other assets.

Hornets target Clingan because they have Mark concerns but also because they like him for this team. They also may be planning to aquire a shooting guard or SF via free agency/trade to fit with Melo and Miller. If so why take an unproven guard in the draft?

I'm not saying Clingan or bust. I also don't think he's there at 6 currently, but damn just because we have Mark Williams should not deter us from taking a big. This team has a serious depth issue and lack of size up front. How many games last year did we win the rebound battle? Getting bigger whether through the draft or free agency should be a priority. Clingan is an easy choice if he's there and is BPA.

[MasterIchiro]

Just a hunch but I predict Hawks take Clingan #1 with all the calls Rockets are fielding for him from teams drafting too far down in the lottery, like Grizz (9) and Bulls (11).

Hawks can't trade back with the Spurs at 4 and expect Clingan to be there.

The homegrown CT native from Bristol, CT (ESPN headquarters) who grew up rooting for the Huskies goes #1. The Los Angeles Lakers saw it coming and tried to buy a piece of the action surrounding my beloved team.

I think Trae Young is on his way to Los Angeles as well. They're asking for Murray but Trae seems more cut out for the Hollywood spotlight.

Maybe Lakeshow grabs Mitchell Robinson.

[MasterIchiro]

BTW his mother taught him how to play the game. She passed when he was just 14 years old. It takes some serious spirit to commit himself to achieve in her honor.

[luciano-davidwesley]

Just a hunch but I predict Hawks take Clingan #1 with all the calls Rockets are fielding for him from teams drafting too far down in the lottery, like Grizz (9) and Bulls (11).

Hawks can't trade back with the Spurs at 4 and expect Clingan to be there.

The homegrown CT native from Bristol, CT (ESPN headquarters) who grew up rooting for the Huskies goes #1. The Los Angeles Lakers saw it coming and tried to buy a piece of the action surrounding my beloved team.

I think Trae Young is on his way to Los Angeles as well. They're asking for Murray but Trae seems more cut out for the Hollywood spotlight.

Maybe Lakeshow grabs Mitchell Robinson.

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[MasterIchiro]

Picture it this way.

Assuming the Rockets are getting a bunch of calls from teams looking to trade for Clingan, Hawks are probably hearing from those same teams. If the Hawks like Clingan they're getting supportive evidence that their scouting isn't lying.

I can picture more calls on Clingan because he can anchor a defense potentially. We are talking major impact on rim protection overnight.

Can anyone picture more calls coming in for other non-Clingan prospects?

I can't. Mavs defense really took off when they added Gafford and PJ. KP is one of the game's elite rim protectors.

Multiple teams moving up for Sarr and Risacher? I can't picture it. True they have more potential but also more uncertainty. Atlanta has a bloated payroll where their margin of error is smaller than Wiz or Charlotte. We have so much financial flexibility. They are shopping Capela. Trae. Murray. They owe 2 first rounders to the Spurs.

I think they could decide to delay trading Trae & Murray and just see how their defense looks at the trade deadline.

[lmcguir15]

Outside of being one of the 5 best players in this draft on talent, he's also one of the safer prospects in a wildcard draft. Clingan will be able to rim protect from day 1. Having a bankable skill in a draft full of unknowns is attractive, especially when you're Atlanta in a, we have to make this draft pick work because we're running out of bullets with Trae on this roster, type situation.

And then if the offense comes, you're golden. If it never comes, he's still obviously playable. If they completely whiff on the #1 pick, it will be seen as one of the biggest gaffes they've had because it spoiled the rest of their time with Trae.

The trade down scenarios are fun with your buddies at the bar, but real people with jobs and families aren't going to take that chance. I feel as comfortable saying Clingan is the top pick as anything in this draft.

[MasterIchiro]

Outside of being one of the 5 best players in this draft on talent, he's also one of the safer prospects in a wildcard draft. Clingan will be able to rim protect from day 1. Having a bankable skill in a draft full of unknowns is attractive, especially when you're Atlanta in a, we have to make this draft pick work because we're running out of bullets with Trae on this roster, type situation.

And then if the offense comes, you're golden. If it never comes, he's still obviously playable. If they completely whiff on the #1 pick, it will be seen as one of the biggest gaffes they've had because it spoiled the rest of their time with Trae.

The trade down scenarios are fun with your buddies at the bar, but real people with jobs and families aren't going to take that chance. I feel as comfortable saying Clingan is the top pick as anything in this draft.

Agree. Clingan has the highest floor in a draft with low floors and lower ceilings. His floor is not your typical high floor. Rather it's a higher floor than high floors in better drafts stocked with more talent.

My read is the Hawks are in no rush to trade Trae even though they're trolling the waters currently.

In my opinion they want to try to extend his window to the 11th hour. They can always revisit his market at the trade deadline. He may command a higher price tag in the heat of the playoff stretch.

So they definitely want to win now. They owe 2 firsts plus one swap? They do not strike me as a rebuild team looking to take a big swing at number one. Nobody in the draft has that kind of upside. You have to be practical for this one.

Clingan runs the floor well in transition, catches lobs and secures the ball off passes. Trae can run PnR with him and eventually pick and pop.

He has Marc Gasol upside but his floor almost carries him 3/4 the way there.

[JMAC3]

...The closest comps in my database are

Moses Brown, Rudy Gobert, Mark Williams, Loren Woods, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Walker Kessler, Peter Ramos, Hasheem Thabeet, Donovan Clingan, Tacko Fall, Zach Edey, Isaac Haas

Parameters:
Height: 7'0.5-7'3
Weight: 240+ lbs
Wingspan: 7'4+

Note: There are other names (total 20)

[MasterIchiro]

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[JustBuzzin]

Feels like we missed a chance to get a valuable trade piece for a future trade.

Would have been nice to have Mark and Clingan.

Oh well time to move on.

[JMAC3]

This dude is going to average like 12 pts and 10 rebounds for his career. People are pinning over him like we missed out on Tim Duncan.

[amcoolio]

I would be more broken up about Clingan if he didn't have foot problems in college, its hard for me to FOMO about another center with injury issues