UCONN’s Donovan Clingan Is The Newest Trail Blazer At No. 7 Overall

750 The Game Staff The Trail Blazers came into draft night with the seventh and fourteenth overall...

UCONN’s Donovan Clingan Is The Newest Trail Blazer At No. 7 Overall

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 26: Donovan Clingan reacts after being drafted seventh overall by the Portland Trailblazers during the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 26, 2024 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

750 The Game Staff

The Trail Blazers came into draft night with the seventh and fourteenth overall picks at their disposal. But by night’s end, only one of those picks were utilized on a draft pick, as UCONN big man Donovan Clingan was taken by the Blazers at No. 7 overall.

A 7-foot 2-inch center, Clingan won back-to-back national championships with the Connecticut Huskies under head coach Dan Hurley. He played 74 games with 33 starts in his two seasons at UConn, with all his starts coming in his sophomore year. Clingan averaged 13 points and 7.4 rebounds in his sophomore campaign that ended with another national title for the Huskies.

Get John Canzano’s extended reaction to the Blazers selection of Donovan Clingan at No. 7 overall as well as the trade acquiring forward Deni Avdija from the Washington Wizards for the No. 14 overall pick, Malcolm Brogdon, and future draft picks including a 2029 first rounder.