2024 NBA Draft: Donovan Clingan’s Size is a Strength But Also a Limitation

Anyone who watched college basketball this year knows Donovan Clingan.

Clingan was the giant anchoring the defense of the back-to-back national champion UConn Huskies, and at 7-foot-3 with a 9-foot-7 standing reach, he's certainly hard to miss.

Clingan is a terrific rim protector and defender, and he's a known commodity. That's given him buzz at the top of the draft, perhaps as high as No. 1 overall.

But is Clingan the right pick at the top of the 2024 NBA draft? Let's look at a brief scouting report.

There's little question that Clingan's value begins and ends with his size protecting the rim. His frame effectively matches four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who just led his team to a historically great defense and a Conference Finals berth, a fact that's no doubt helping Clingan's stock this particular year.

And unlike a young Gobert, Clingan is stronger and more filled out, ready to bang bodies in the NBA post.

But with Clingan's gargantuan size also comes real questions.

Clingan measured as a very poor athlete, even for his size. He ranked near last in the class in shuttle and sprint numbers, showing a clear lack of mobility, and he has a very poor vertical and barely gets off the ground in-game.

Size is great, but if other guys are jumping and getting just as big as you are anyway, that advantage is muted.

There are real concerns with Clingan's athleticism, and with his conditioning in particular. He played only 13 minutes a game for UConn as a freshman, then increased to only 22.5 per game this championship year as a starter.

For some big men, that would portend frequent foul trouble, but that hasn't been a big problem for Clingan. The problem has simply been staying on the court for more than a few minutes at a time.

Clingan struggles to get up and down the court in transition, and that will only increase in the NBA.

The lack of athleticism will also confine him almost exclusively to drop or help defense, leaving him in big trouble stranded against smaller players defending the perimeter, and sometimes even giving him trouble defending the rim properly if he's not quick enough to recover or get protected by great perimeter defenders like he was at UConn.

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Considering his size advantage, Clingan is a relatively average rebounder as well. Again, the lack of mobility and athleticism is somewhat limiting. Size can only go so far.

Clingan's size also mean his injury history could be a bit of a concern. Clingan missed some time at UConn with both foot and ankle injuries.

None of us reading this column know one thing about Clingan's medicals, but there's enough history with gigantic NBA centers struggling with foot and leg injuries for that to be a real red flag.

Offensively, Clingan looks pretty limited. He sets hefty screens and has been a nice roll man, though again, the lack of quickness and leaping ability again limits him more than would be expected. Clingan's passing is very sharp and could be useful, especially in short role situations.

Will Clingan shoot? That could be a swing factor, and there are reports of him hitting 3s in practice, but he took only nine 3s in two years at UConn and hit only 55.8% of his free throws, a troubling sign.

If Clingan does learn to shoot in time, maybe he becomes something like Brook Lopez. But there's a question of how valuable Brook Lopez is in today's league — and, more importantly, how important he'd be five or 10 years from now when Clingan is at his presumed peak.

Walker Kessler could be another comp. He's a nice defender and a positive regular season player, but he's also rumored to be available for a team in a rebuild.

The truth is that Clingan's defense is more valuable in the regular season than it ever would be in the postseason, and that his one great strength protecting the rim also doubles as a quiet flaw.

His lack of versatility defensively means he'll likely struggle in some matchups, and with the direction the NBA is headed, that number is likely only increasing — and only increases deeper into the playoffs, too.

If Clingan stays healthy and improves on his conditioning, it's clear his size and rim protection will be an obvious value add to an NBA team's defense over the course of a long, grueling nine-month campaign.

But is that enough at the top of the draft? That part remains to be seen.

Donovan Clingan's size may end up as much of a limitation as a strength.