hell nah, stop drafting brick layers we need shooters, unless you have Lebron coming into the draft kinda hype, we passing on him
I'm really surprised people think this team needs to get bigger rather than smaller. Sengun is clearly a center-only player. The team has traded for Adams. Jabari works better when moved up to stretch 5 rather than down to a SF position. Amen and Tari can both defend the PF position. There is absolutely no reason to draft a center unless said player is a clear level above all other prospects. And there's nothing to suggest Clingan is that guy.
I largely agree with your point, but it is worth flagging that Adams is aging, coming off injury, on a 1-yr deal, and is not a rim protector. So I think the rockets could do a lot worse than Clingan, who very well could be BPA at #3. But it’s not an ideal fit with the current roster make-up. Shepard is the best fit for what we need.
Clingan is just a backup center who can block shots and rebound hopefully. They cannot work together.
To me Clingan is simply a bad fit, rather than "not an ideal fit." The latter feels more like a Buzelis type of guy, Someone who's raw, may not see the floor, suspect shot, etc. But Sengun/Clingan even in the most optimistic scenario is going to have issues playing together. Because Sengun needs to be able to shoot league average 3pt% and he needs to learn how to chase around stretch 4s. And he needs to adjust his post game to account for a non-shooter on the floor.
Clingan fits in the Stephen Adams role, if you are going to a Guard driven team, then you move Sengun and go lob threat/rim protector at center - but together they don't fit. Unless Alpi has developed a 40% 3pt shot. DD
IMO, if it weren't for Ant being an alpha defender and a super-alpha scorer, KAT and Gobert would not work together. It's bascially a fluky, non-repeatable situation IMO.
Could they work together? Possibly - but it would require one or both of them to improve as shooters. They also would likely only be on the court together for less than 20 minutes - with the idea being that one of them can play center at all times.
...the problem is Clingan would probably be a late lotto or even fall outside the lotto pick in other drafts. It's unfortunate that Houston would get the top 3 pick in a draft that starts with Tier 3 guys because there are no Tier 1 or Tier 2 guys available like in most drafts. The problem you describe above can be applied to most of the top 5 or 6 guys in this draft - the value compared to previous drafts is simply not there.
beg to differ. Every evaluation of Brook Lopez in NJ/Brooklyn was ‘good offense, suspect defense, low ability to rebound’ Clingan’s evaluation is ‘doesn’t score from the post, rim runner with ‘hope’ for a shot, good defense, decent rebounding’ Those are two mighty different players. He’s more Robin Lopez than Brook Lopez. People say he may develop a shot, don’t fall into video hype about his shooting. Also, while being a massive dude, he averaged half the rebounds of dominant centers in college, as he isn’t explosive.
I'm thinking of the later, more mature Brook Lopez in terms of size and defensive ability. The guy who became a runner-up to the DPOY award in '23.
Sengun is far too slow to play anything other than 5, unless opposing teams are going with their own twin towers lineup. A Clingan pick is to secure the backup center spot. I know this is gonna surprise some folks but Sengun isn't going to play every minute of every game and relying on Adams is a prayer at best.
This is probably the best "don't pick Clingan at 3" reasoning there is. I'd love a rim running, supersized big but that archetype isn't a smart value pick. We do still have Landale too, as a 3rd center you could do worse. Would run to the podium if Sarr were available though. He's got a real nice game and I think actually could play 4 next to Sengun. Kinda ideal to have Sarr/Jabari on either side of him picking up weakside help. That let's Sengun be more of a nuisance out on the perimeter and funneling the ball down to shot blockers rather than having to get back himself.
I think Clingan would be used the way Toronto used Poeltl his first few season or how Memphis was planning on using Thabeet before they realized he was a bust. He would be the top big off of the bench and may get some PT with Sengün on the court. But I don’t see him being a starter unless Alpi improves into a reliable 3 point shooter
https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/uc...onovan-clingan-nba-draft-combine-19455042.php He's shooting 3's okay in a gym. But can that translate to the NBA and a game? But when the drills moved onto the Wintrust Arena floor for shooting, the Bristol product showed out. Clingan was tops among the bigs in Shooting off the Dribble, knocking down 19 of 30 3-pointers (63.3 percent). In Spot-Up Shooting, Clingan went 14-for-25 (56 percent), second only to Sarr (60 percent). Clingan came back to earth a little in the 3-Point Star Drill, hitting 10 of 25 (40 percent) to finish fourth among the bigs behind Edey, Tyler Smith and Sarr. He went just 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) in the timed Side-Mid-Side drill, last of the sixth.
Can’t work until clingan or sengun shoot over 35% from 3. Amen would have to be above that too. OKC is the model. Big shooters and ball handlers at every position also clingan doesn’t move enough off ball to catch Sengun passes
