MAILBAG: What Will the Trail Blazers' Center Rotation Look Like?
Plus, a podcasting update and more reader questions.
Last week, I put out a call for mailbag questions, as I do during down parts of the NBA calendar. I got by far the most responses I’ve ever gotten—almost 20 questions from subscribers, all good, and all covering a wide range of Trail Blazers topics.
I got so many that we’re going to do an unprecedented four-part mailbag, with the first two parts coming out this week and the other two parts coming out next week.
Normally, I’d cut it off after 10 questions or so, enough for a two-part mailbag. But since it’s the deep offseason, with no news to cover for the foreseeable future until training camp starts at the end of September, why not milk it for an extra week?
Let’s start with a question about me and my little operation:
Sean, when are you getting the podcast going again? We’ve missed it!
- Ian
I get this one a lot, and the interest is appreciated. I’m aware that this past season wasn’t the most consistent when it came to podcasting, and I haven’t released a new episode since March.
There are some things I don’t want to get into fully because I don’t have any bad feelings towards anybody, but here’s my best explanation for that:
In December of 2022, I signed a production and distribution deal with Audacy. They handled all of the back-end production work on both the audio and the video of the show, which took a lot off my plate, and also handled the ad sales. For a while, it was a good partnership. But ultimately, it wasn’t the right fit on my end. Again, I don’t want to get into too many specifics—I liked the people I worked with there, and I appreciate that they were willing to let me out of the contract early and let me keep ownership of my feed and all of that, so I don’t want to throw them under the bus for something that just didn’t work out for a variety of reasons. “It just wasn’t the right fit” sounds like a vague cop-out explanation, but that’s what it came down to.
That was around December of 2023. After that, I went back to what I was doing before I joined up with Audacy, and producing the show entirely by myself. That, as you’d imagine, is a lot more labor-intensive than my previous setup. Now, it was about not just figuring out a guest for each week and scheduling a time that worked for both of us (I have all the respect in the world for guys like Mike Richman of Locked On Blazers who can carry a solo show, but I hate talking to no one and don’t think I’m good at it). I also had to do the post-production work by myself, which is something that if I’m going to do, I want to take the time to make sure it’s done well because the show is going out with my name on it.
It just got to a point where the amount of time and work I was putting into the podcast wasn’t matching up with the amount of money and growth I was seeing from it, which wasn’t very much at all. Add to that, by this time it was the dog days of a tanking season where it was tough to find interesting things to talk about without feeling like I was recording podcasts just to put something out.
On the writing side, over the two years I’ve been doing this Substack, I like to think I’ve developed a pretty good sense of what works and what doesn’t, what you want to read, what I want to write and what falls into both of those categories. The growth I’ve seen in subscribers has been consistent and the work I put into it has paid off in tangible ways. That wasn’t true with the podcast after a while, so I put it to the side for the time being.
I’ll get back to it. I’m still working out when or what it will look like, and I have some other things up in the air that I need to get figured out. But I hear all of you who want the podcast back and I can tell you it’s not going to be gone forever.
Now, for the first installment of the basketball questions, which covers the center logjam, Donovan Clingan’s long-term upside, the ongoing ROOT Sports/Comcast situation and win projections for next season.
What’s your best guess as to what the center rotation will look like?
- Paul
Deandre Ayton is going to start. That much I am certain of.
Figuring out the distribution of minutes behind him is going to be a tough task for Chauncey Billups and could come down to matchups on any given night.
Donovan Clingan looked like an NBA-ready defender in Summer League and I’d expect him to get minutes from day one. He won’t be able to play starter minutes his rookie year—going from a 35-game college season to an 82-game NBA season is going to be an adjustment from a conditioning standpoint for someone as big as him, and he only averaged 22 minutes a game last season at UConn. Plus, rookie centers usually get in foul trouble a lot, which will limit his minutes. He’s going to come off the bench as long as Ayton is here, and that’s fine.
What becomes of Duop Reath’s minutes will be a story to monitor. Ayton and Clingan both need to play, but Reath was too good last season to not still be in the rotation. Billups has hinted since Clingan was drafted that he wants to play around with double-big lineups, which could be a way to get guys on the floor more and clear up the logjam.
Robert Williams III is the wild card here. I was told a couple of months ago that his knee rehab was going well and that he was expected to be ready to go in time for training camp. He was with the team in Las Vegas, working on conditioning with the training staff, so that’s a good sign.
But even if he’s cleared to play, Williams’ role is going to be up in the air. Before he suffered the season-ending knee injury last November, the Blazers were already being conservative with his workload and sitting him on back-to-backs because of his previous injury issues. Now that he’s had major surgeries on both knees, I’d imagine that approach is only going to continue moving forward. So there will be plenty of nights throughout the season where he’s either unavailable or limited in how much he can play. That’s just the reality for someone with Williams’ medical history. It’s unfortunate for him and for the team, but it will clarify the rotation more nights than not.
Long-term, they probably need to move somebody from this group. Williams would make the most sense, because his role is the most uncertain due to his health. But because he missed most of last season, he doesn’t have a ton of trade value at the moment and teams undoubtedly want to see him stay on the floor before giving up assets for him.
Having too many good players at an important position isn’t a bad problem to have, but it’s one that will have to be figured out at some point.
I was pretty low on Clingan during the draft, but Summer League shocked and changed my opinion. He looked really solid. After Clingan's performance during Summer League, do you think the Blazers' front office views him as the long-term fit at center? Or is it too early to tell? How do you think his dribble handoffs/passing/screening(general hub work) fits with the other young core of the Blazers?
- Jonathan
Joe Cronin wouldn’t say on draft night exactly where the front office had Clingan on their board, but I have strong reason to believe he was their top-ranked prospect the whole way. They were ecstatic when he was still there at No. 7, and I can’t imagine anything they saw in Vegas changes that assessment of him. Summer League is an imperfect barometer, but the things Clingan was good at in college (rim protection, screening, rebounding) look like they’re going to translate at the next level.
The offense will be what dictates Clingan’s ceiling in the NBA. If the playmaking flashes he showed at Summer League are consistent, that’s going to keep him on the floor. The finishing was rough but I have to think that will get better when he’s playing with NBA-caliber guards capable of throwing an entry pass. I’m very much in believe-it-when-I-see-it mode about the three-point shooting everyone is hyping up. A lot of guys who aren’t good shooters are Steph Curry in practices and scrimmages. But even if that never comes around, as long as Clingan can finish in the paint and be a playmaker in addition to the defense, that’s a really good starter.
Do you have a win projection for this team? Do you think this is a tank year or do they push hard the first part to see how close they might be to the playoffs.
- Ben
How will we watch games next season? Any update on ROOT SPORTS/Comcast?
- Jon
Sorry that I have to be cryptic here, because the final details are still being ironed out and I don’t know exactly where everything is going to land. But I would expect there to be some kind of announcement from the team on this front soon, and my sense is it’s going to be one that people will be happy about.
What’s your favorite restaurant in Vegas? I’ll be down there next year to watch Cooper Flagg’s first game in a Blazer uniform, and I’ll need a place to go after to celebrate our impending dynasty.
- Josh
So, I’m not a huge Vegas person in general. I don’t gamble, everything is expensive and the heat is oppressive in July. But one thing I have to give it is there is no shortage of incredible food of all types. Over the 12 years I’ve been going to Summer League, I’ve found so many favorite spots I can’t hope to hit all of them every year. Here are just a few that came to me as I’m writing this:
My favorite burger place on the strip, Holsteins (in the Cosmopolitan) unfortunately closed earlier this year, so I’ll now give the nod to Gordon Ramsay Burger in Planet Hollywood.
My favorite place off the strip is Tacos and Beer, which offers exactly what it advertises in the name.
Near Thomas and Mack, Capriotti’s is a solid sandwich spot that’s a staple for me after Summer League games because it’s open late.
Lamaii is a Thai restaurant I went to last year that had some of the best wings I’ve ever had in my life. Lotus of Siam is a more well-known Thai restaurant that’s also very good. You can’t go wrong with either but I wanted to shout out Lamaii because it’s less likely to show up in tourist guides.
Lastly, this year after one of the Blazers’ games I found a great late-night diner called Blueberry Hill with a huge menu that has everything you could think of.
Those are just a few I can recommend. There are a ton more.
I lol'ed at the cooper flag video as a response 😂
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