Donovan Clingan is Coming Into His Own as a Shooter

📍PORTLAND, Ore. — When the Trail Blazers drafted Donovan Clingan seventh overall in June of 2024, they insisted he could shoot NBA three-pointers despite that having never been a part of his game during his college days.

In fact, during the interview portion of Clingan's predraft workout before that draft, general manager Joe Cronin and head coach Chauncey Billups asked him why he didn't shoot more threes at UConn, since his shooting form in the workout looked solid.

Clingan's response: he didn't shoot threes in college because that wasn't what the team needed him to do and he wasn't the kind of player that looked for his own offense for the sake of it.

That answer, and what it said about his team-first attitude, was one of many things that sold the Blazers on Clingan during the predraft process. But it was still a tough sell at first that the shot was real. He shot below 30 percent from deep in his rookie season, and took fewer than one attempt per game. His strengths, just as they were in college, were rebounding and rim protection.

Clingan's second year has been a different story. The shooting may be real now.