LAS VEGAS — After finishing with a record of 3-2 at the Las Vegas NBA Summer League, there are a couple things that can be taken away regarding the future of the Trail Blazers.
While the summer league is just a representation of what might happen, and in no way is definitive of how the future of the NBA will look (for example, the Trail Blazers have won two of the last six summer league championships), it is interesting to speculate how these results will translate to the NBA, because while not always accurate, they do give fans a look into how their game may work into the pros.
Everything that happened during the summer league can be taken with a grain of salt, but that being said, here are two takeaways from Portland's summer league outing.
Donovan Clingan's size and paint presence is as advertised
Clingan was already thought to be one of, if not the best defender in all of college basketball last season, and Portland drafted him to be that alpha defender down low.
Standing at nearly 7-foot-2 without shoes, with a 7-7 wingspan and a 9-7 standing reach, Clingan was rightfully nicknamed "Cling Kong" during his time at UConn.
His presence down low has so far carried over in a big way. In four games at the summer league, Clingan recorded 13 rebounds and five blocks against San Antonio, 11 rebounds and three blocks against Philadelphia, 14 rebounds and five blocks against Washington and 12 rebounds and four blocks against Charlotte.
Clingan averaged 4.3 blocks per game, the highest summer-league mark ever recorded.
He was clearly intimidating opponents in the paint. Against Washington, Clingan was matched up against the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Alex Sarr, and he held Sarr scoreless, shooting 0-for-15 from the field.
The only critique of Clingan thus far can be his scoring output. In his final game, Clingan did have 16 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field, however prior to then he had not reached double digits.
To be frank however, the scoring is not a concern when it comes to Clingan. Portland didn't draft him to become the No. 1 or No. 2 option on offense for a contending team. They drafted him because of his monster defensive capabilities. On a team that features three high-usage guards, plus two 3-and-D wings, scoring was not a priority for Portland on draft night.
Clingan's scoring will come, maybe not in bunches like some centers, but so far, his defense has taken the cake as one of the most impressive from the summer league.
Get ready to embrace the tank Blazer fans
Sigh ...
The long wait until the NBA season begins has officially started, and while most fanbases like the Celtics or Nuggets will be looking forward to another title charge, the Trail Blazers will be headed towards another year of tanking.
While winning games in the summer league and losing games during the NBA season does not correlate, we can get glimpses of how a player could contribute to the actual roster, and there are no clear signs of anyone doing that next year.
Clingan is sure to get decent minutes, but Portland wants to develop him behind Deandre Ayton, and he'll likely be the backup center in order to properly get him ready to be the starter down the line.
Rayan Rupert and Kris Murray were the only guys on this summer-league roster who played significant minutes last season for Portland, and neither showed anything particularly flashy, nor signs of a reason that they should see a minutes increase (Portland trading for Deni Avdija doesn't help the duo's chances of seeing an increase in playing time, either).
Two of the best scorers for this summer-league squad, Bryce McGowens and Alex Reese, seem likely to spend more time playing for the Rip City Remix rather than the Blazers.
So, with no one truly standing out from the summer league team, not much will change for this Blazers team, meaning likely another sub-25-win season is ahead of us.
The only likely changes coming to the Blazers after this off-season include Scoot Henderson taking on a larger role due to Malcolm Brogdon being traded, Deni Avdija stepping into the starting small forward spot and Clingan soaking up minutes on the bench. Other than that, it's hard to see a lot of changes to a team that went 21-61 last season.
With an inevitable tailspin of a season likely in store for Portland (yet again) the only things fans and the front office can look forward to is the possibility of landing the No. 1 pick, where Duke freshman forward Cooper Flagg will likely be drafted.
Flagg is the perfect piece Portland needs for the future. A young forward who shined as a 17-year-old against this year's team USA Olympic squad, Flagg has tantalized NBA scouts all summer, and the Blazers would be over the moon to land him.
And just to add to how much of a fairy tale it would be for Portland to land Flagg, his and Clingan's mothers played basketball together at the University of Maine in the late '90's.
It's not just Flagg, though. Next year's draft is considered by experts to be one of the best in years, with Flagg at the top, but other top-flight prospects like Rutgers freshmen Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, French point guard Nolan Traore and Baylor freshman guard VJ Edgecombe, serving as premier consolation prizes.
Yet I digress.
Maybe Portland will have a whirlwind season where Clingan wins NBA Rookie of the Year, Henderson wins the Most Improved Player award, and the Blazers finish 50-32, near the middle of the West.
But seeing as the summer league is our only taste of Portland basketball for the next three months, this is all the speculation we've got.
