Going by measurements, it was an encouraging 2024 NBA draft combine for 7-foot-2 Connecticut center Donovan Clingan.
The back-to-back NCAA national champion is a potential defensive anchor on the inside, yet he also believes he will develop enough 3-point shooting to play with another big man — such as Alperen Sengun of the Houston Rockets. ESPN’s draft analyst, Jonathan Givony, compared Clingan’s upsdie to a potential cross between Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez.
At this point, the question seems to be whether Clingan will even be on the board when the Rockets draft at No. 3 overall in the 2024 first round. On the latest episode of The Woj Pod, ESPN league insider Adrian Wojnarowski says of Clingan’s potential market:
There are elements to his game that you did not see at UConn that have been there. He has been someone that going back to his high school days, spent a lot of time behind the 3-point line and developing that game. …
His dominance for UConn, the improvement, the lateral quickness, his ability to recover and cover so much ground… you saw the NCAA Tournament. I mean, Illinois literally could not get anywhere near the basket with him on the floor.
As teams are meeting him, they know what the intel is on him. The kind of teammate he has been, the kind of leader he was, the kind of empathy he has for his teammates — that’s been known through his time at UConn. [Givony] just talked to teams today and yesterday who started to get to spend time with him, and anybody around him knew that was only going to enhance his stock.
I think he will only go to select teams and spend even more time in their organization. That’s only going to help his case at No. 1 [with Atlanta], No. 2 with Washington, or perhaps even No. 3 with the Rockets.
The complete episode can be viewed below. Beyond Clingan, other potential options for the Rockets at No. 3 (recent mock drafts) could include Stephon Castle, a guard from UConn who was teammates with Clingan; Kentucky guards Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham; and French forwards Alexandre Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher.
