WATCH: UConn HC Dan Hurley approves No. 7 pick Donovan Clingan's unique jacket in 2024 NBA draft
With the seventh pick in the 2024 draft, the Portland Trailblazers picked the UConn Huskies' center Donovan Clingan. The sophomore big man was recently named the most outstanding player of the NCAA East region and received the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team honors.
Recognizing his top 10 stature in the drafts, Clingan donned a special jacket that had pictures of his family around the inseam of one side, along with pictures of him and his mom on the other. Moreover, the reversible jacket celebrated his back-to-back championships at UConn with glimpses of the feat embroidered at the back.
With that, as Clingan partook in one of his first NBA photoshoots, Dan Hurley appeared with a big smile on his face and approved his fit by pointing at the back of the jacket.
Clingan was one of the best players in Dan Hurley’s championship lineups. He averaged 13.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.5 blocks while shooting a whopping 63.9% from the floor.
Portland was one of the three teams with the worst defense in the NBA last season as they gave out 19.1 points through turnovers. Clingan brings the promise of bolstering the Blazers’ defense and immediately impacting on winning.
Moreover, the Blazers have recently acquired Deni Avdija from the Washington Wizards, another monumental move in ramping up their defense.
How can Donovan Clingan help Portland in their rebuild?
Entry of Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan marks the pivotal Trail blazers’s first-ever try at a rebuild since Damian Lillard’s exit. While they managed to get Deandre Ayton last year, it failed to yield the expected results.
Avdija is coming off his best NBA season last year, where he averaged 14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists on 50.6% shooting from the floor and 37.4% from the three - all of them are career-high numbers. With that, Avdija and Clingan bring respectable strength to the franchise’s frontcourt.
Moreover, Donovan Clingan’s versatility can also benefit Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. He can help create opportunities with his defense and can ease up things offensively through his size to potentially give the Blazers their core four to build around in the future.