Potential NBA Fantasy Basketball Breakout: Donovan Clingan + Super Early Mock Draft

It's Officially Mock Draft Season!

Jul 21, 2025

With Deandre Ayton being recently bought out by the Portland Trail Blazers, that should open up minutes and increased production for second year center Donovan Clingan. Being 7’2” tall with a 9'7” standing reach, has allowed Clingan to grow into one of the most promising rim protectors and rebounders in the league despite only entering his sophomore season. That defensive appeal should allow him to see a bigger role moving forward. Offensively, Donovan is an efficient paint finisher with upside as a viable PNR (pick and roll) lob threat. His outside shot is still a work in progress (56% from the line and 29% from deep), but his form is good enough where he can eventually become a better set shotmaker. The Blazers made a surprising pick in this year’s draft as they selected another center in Hansen Yang with the 16th overall pick. Selecting Yang could end up being problematic for Clingan’s long term appeal, but for now, Hansen is very raw and will likely need this season to develop his all around skillset. I don’t expect him to see enough minutes to hinder Clingan’s upside. This year, Donovan has a clear starting role as Portland’s primary big man and will finally be able to showcase his capabilities for a full season. With Ayton in LA, there’ll be less of a center committee as Clingan will have a realistic chance of having more consistent playing time. While it’s a small sample size (20 games), Donovan has shown fantasy upside when playing over 25 minutes a game (see stats below). Overall, Clingan is in a great position to break out next season as he’ll operate as Portland’s defensive anchor and primary PNR roller.

Notes:

-Clingan’s Stats in the 2024-25 season: 6.5 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.6 BPG, 1.1 APG, 0.5 SPG, 54/29/60 splits, 23.1 FPPG

-Clingan’s Stats in the 2024-25 (in games with 25+ minutes): 9.9 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 2.6 BPG, 1.9 APG, 0.6 SPG, 52/32/61 splits, 36.3 FPPG

For more Fantasy Basketball posts and information, follow @fantasybasketballinsider on Instagram and TikTok