In the wake of drafting Donovan Clingan, Blazers GM Joe Cronin made an important call

Portland, Ore. – It was Thursday morning, just hours after the first round of the NBA Draft ended, when Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin learned he would have to call up veteran center Deandre Ayton. The night before, Cronin had used the seventh pick to draft Connecticut center Donovan Clingan. Knowing how egos and sentiments get hurt when teams select new players, the Blazers’ top executive wanted to touch base with their starter from the 2023-24 season.

When Cronin reached Ayton, who was training with the Bahamas national team, he said there was no steam coming from the other end of the line. No passive-aggressive silence. There is no insecurity regarding his position.

“DeAndre was incredibly excited,” Cronin said.

All the questions Ayton could have asked – Why did you choose a centre? …Is he taking my place? … What does this mean for me? – were instead framed in a positive tone.

“He was like, ‘Okay, where can we take this?'” Cronin said. “(He asked) how can he help me? How can I help him? What can we do together?’ “He had a great attitude about the whole situation.”

The phone conversation went a long way in answering the bleak picture at center for the Blazers, who also feature veteran Robert Williams III and second-year sharpshooter Duop Reith.

After spending much of last fall and early winter frustrated by Ayton not attending rehab appointments, showing up late to practice and throwing tantrums, the franchise now celebrates Ayton as a building block. While Cronin can’t say for sure what’s next for this Blazers roster in the coming weeks, there are strong indications that Ayton will be at the center of whatever the Blazers do next season.

For starters, coach Chauncey Billups is preparing to fly to Valencia, Spain, to watch and support Ayton as the Bahamas competes in the FIBA ​​Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Billups will be in the stands when the Bahamas open with Finland on Tuesday. As Billups joins forces with Ayton, it will no doubt include conversations about expanding his role next season. Billups told on Saturday athletic He intends to experiment with 7-foot Ayton at power forward and 7-foot-2 Clingan at center next season. He also said he continues to encourage Ayton to expand his steady midrange jumper to perhaps include a 3-point shot.

“I’m willing to try things,” Billups said. “A lot of teams are playing big – Cleveland, Denver, Memphis… I’m going to try to get (Clingen) and DA together. But it depends who is on the floor. Is this Jaren Jackson? Is this Aaron Gordon? Is this Evan Mobley?”

Billups nodded his head yes and continued: “What I’m not going to do is put him there to protect Jayson Tatum. Or Kevin Durant…it’s going to be situational. But I’m telling you, I think the league is going to make a big effort in the interior. So, I think it will be fun.”

It’s too early to say for sure whether the Blazers will enter September training camp with Ayton and Clingen. The Blazers have a maximum of 15 players under contract, Cronin said. athletic He remains in active mode to upgrade the roster.

“I’m constantly looking for ways to get better,” Cronin said. “This is my challenge. We are still not that good. We have to be better. We like what we have achieved, but we cannot relax. Have to keep moving forward. What we’re doing is player development… You know, we have a lot of young guys, we have to be ready. But our challenge is also to get more and more high-level players.”

Still, it’s become clear that Portland is curious about what the Ayton-Klingon duo can accomplish together or as a platoon.

Billups was quick to point out the Blazers’ last-place finish in rim protection last season, so when Clingan — who has won a title the last four years he played basketball (two in high school, two in Connecticut ) – So he was very happy. The Blazers dropped to seventh overall.

“Our rim defense was a problem for us, we struggled there,” Billups said. “So I like what we did. We went out and got the best in the draft in rim protection.

Billups said he would employ the same drop defense he used last season (the center drops toward the basket when defending the pick-and-roll), when Portland ranked 23rd out of 30 teams in defensive efficiency. Was. Dropping down to protect the rim is Clingan’s strength, which is further enhanced by his ability to remain vertical, a skill he said was developed by Connecticut coach Dan Hurley. Clingan said his inspiration to play elite defense came from his mother, Stacey, who died of breast cancer when he was in the eighth grade. His mother was a three-time conference player of the year in Maine.

“My mom always told me that defense wins ball games; Crime sells tickets,” Clingan said at his introductory press conference in Portland on Saturday. “So you have to play great defense to win games, and I want to win games. I’ll take a block off the backboard over a dunk any day of the week.”

That’s why Billups said the Blazers’ defensive principles will remain the same this season, but he expects different results.

Billups said of Klingon, “He’s going to spend a lot of time on our defense with that red paint under his feet.” “I think most teams will rethink how we attack the paint…this will change that.”

Billups said he also envisions Ayton and Klingon giving the Blazers a secret advantage. Of course, Ayton is a top-class midrange shooter. Last season, Ayton made 55.2 percent of his 2-point shots from 16 feet and beyond. But many people may not know about the Klingon’s shooting ability. During his pre-draft workout in Portland, Clingan stunned the Blazers with his outside shooting, which included three NBA 3-pointers.

“I was shocked. Really shocked,” Billups said. “He shot it, and it was like an easy shot.”

After the workout, Billups took Klingon to his office and interviewed him. His first question to Clingan was why he attempted only nine 3-pointers in two seasons at UConn.

“He gave me one of the best answers a kid could give me: He said, ‘I just wanted to do what coach wanted me to do to win.’ And to me, he’s just a winner.

Billups said Clingan will enter the season with the green light to shoot 3-pointers, provided he is open and it is a smart shot. With the Blazers built around Shadon Sharp and Scooter Henderson, two players who like to attack the basket, Billups said it is important for the Blazers to have big men who can space the floor.

“Understanding that we’re going to attack the basket, keeping (Klingon) in space… they have to make decisions (stop the drive or defend the outside shot),” Billups said. “And that’s a weapon you can use.” So it would be fun for me to design stuff, because even at the end of last year, I was talking to DA about expanding her range.

Cronin and Billups also noted that Klingon is an underrated passer who has a thorough understanding of the nuances and feel of plays. This all adds up to why the Klingons have such an affinity for the Blazers and Ayton.

“At the end of the day, that’s the only thing that matters to me: winning,” Clingan said. “It’s not points, it’s not rebounds.

“This will happen when my team wins and your team loses.”

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(Photo of Joe Cronin, Donovan Clingan and Chauncey Billups: Cameron Brown/NBA via Getty Images)