Dame Lizard wrote:Yes, Clingan is miles ahead of Yang at this stage.Wizenheimer wrote:DusterBuster wrote:This is I think the right takeaway. Summer League is more of an eyetest setting. It's too small of a sample size and too lite on cohesiveness for the teams practicing to really gather anything from advanced stats.
Summer League teams are largely consisted of assistant coaches or FO people trying to work their way to a coaching spot, guys auditioning and then the rookies. They get like 4 practices a couple weeks after the draft and then expect to play together. It's glorified YMCA scrimmages with way more talented players.
Did he show some NBA level mobility, timing and touch. Yes. Did he look like a rookie with some major issues that will be magnified in the actually league. Hell yes.
Let's not overcomplicate this people.
yeah, eyetest setting is a good way to put it just as long as you remember the competition level. SL is filled with scrubs who will almost never see an NBA floor
Per36 can be a handy little tool if you're comparing similar players in a similar situation who didn't have a big differential in minutes. You don't want Per36 if one player averaged 31 minutes and another averaged 14
I wanted to see how Yang did vs how Clingan did last season. They had nearly identical minutes/game. Hansen is obviously a better shooter from range. For some stupid reason, a third of Clingan's shots last summer were three's; made no sense. But again, Yang has the advantage as a shooter. But at this point, as a shooter...he's no Meyers Leonard?
anyway, in the areas I think are critical for a 7'+ drop-coverage C, Clingan averaged 12.3 rebounds vs Yang at 5.0. Clingan averaged 3.5 offensive rebounds vs Yang at 1.0. Clingan averaged 4.3 blocks vs Yang at 2.3. Yang averaged 3.8 assists vs Clingan at 2.0, but the Blazers made a concerted effort to run high post offense thru Yang that they didn't do for Clingan. But, Yang averaged 3.8 turnovers vs Clingan at 2.8
I did like some of the things I saw from Yang. But in my view, Clingan is a much better C at this point in time. He's an dominant rebounder, elite rim protector, and intimidating paint defender. Yang is none of those things yet. Yes, Yang can bring more to an offensive scheme...as long as you discount offensive rebounding. But, like Clingan, he's not mobile enough to spend time away from the paint on defense. They are redundant in that regard
Clingan was not a project C. As a rookie he displayed quite a few skills that made Rudy Gobert DPOY. I think Yang is a project C. Maybe he'll prove me wrong this season; hope so. But I'd imagine he'll be 3rd string behind Clingan and Timelord until Timelord gets injured
Yang is entertaining and a fun player to watch, with intriguing upside. Hopefully Clingan can learn a thing or two from him regarding his passing and court vision.
Clingan is a genuine NBA player at this stage, while Yang is understandably raw. I think he has a better SL than I thought he would, tbh. Plenty of encouraging signs, but we must not forget he is a high risk high reward player.
Bryant and Essengue didn't set SL on fire, which does make me feel better about the pick. Let's see how that 2028 Orlando pick fairs too. I think it was a good value trade, even if I was quite keen on Coward, Essengue and Bryant, in that order.
Yang played about like I expected him to play in SL, but with waaaaay more savvy passing. I was genuinely surprised to see how much the offense ran through him--which was great. SL is exactly the kind of place to audition those types of things. Looking back at my RealGM comments back when I first watched him in March of 2024, I noted the feel and passing and said he reminded me of elder years Sabas. That's similar to what I saw in SL.
Clingan still has some skill to unlock as a rebounder and shot blocker, which is actually kinda scary, because he was already VERY good at those things last year. Offensively, Clingan has showed pretty poor hands so far in his NBA career. I've said it a few times before, but he plays on both ends like he's always relied on being the biggest player on the floor. We'll see how much offensive touch and skill he can add. I remain a bit skeptical there...
Yang, like others have said obviously has some elite feel for passing, but that's about it as far as NBA skills at this point. From what I saw he was a slightly below average individual rebounder and shot blocker for his size and position against SL competition. That will only get magnified against NBA centers. He is a very good team defender, however. His teammates will love playing with him because Yang will bump their REB numbers and find them when they are open. Tracking his gameplay with someone like Sharpe who is a good cutter, should be a fun storyline this coming season.
