Never bet against high iq and skill combined with nba level athleticism/size. Clingan has all that. the things to watch for his rookie year to me would be conditioning, non-interior defense and overall speed. very cool that the rockets end summer league against them. I hope both he and Reed play. bear in mind ofc the rockets summer league bigs seem atrocious… with Robinson being “ok”
he definitely wasnt efficient but im not about to say he wont be in the league, same way i expect Reed to actually be good at 3 pts shooting and not what he averaged in the summer league
Clutch wanted Clingan from the start of the process, that he had me convinced he should be the pick. I’ve since move onto the Sheppard, and his elite shooting skills. Even though there was no Franchise projection from this draft, I think guys like Clingan and Sheppard can become all-stars as option playing 1b or 2a for their respective teams.
I never said he wont belong in the league I just said he didnt show the IQ and skill being touted predraft. I think he is gonna be Jarace Walker of this draft, people expect him to make an instant impact but he is rawer than expected.
He is awkward and doesn't have the body control to be a really good NBA athlete. However - he is very long, he is big, he hustles, he moves well enough to use positioning to utilize his length to get rebounds and to finish inside. He is going to be a good NBA player. He will be a good starter for a number of years if he stays healthy. His willingness to run the floor and stay in shape really is going to help him. He is a good draft pick, but I do think that he will be BBQ chicken against guys near his size that are quicker and that he cannot outwork. There won't be a lot of them - but there will be some.
We'll see what happens in the regular season, but barring injury he looks like a solid starter/rotational player with a borderline star ceiling for a decade.
