Donovan Clingan is a first-round player in exactly one kind of draft

Donovan Clingan can be the ninth-best player in fantasy basketball and the wrong pick for your team. Both statements belong at the center of his draft case.

Model Zero gives Clingan 13.6 points, 13.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.1 blocks, 1.2 threes, 51.8% shooting, and only 1.4 turnovers in 31 minutes. That profile ranks ninth overall per game. The 67.7% free throws are a serious weakness, but nearly everything else a fantasy manager wants from a center arrives in concentrated form.

The top-ten projection is powerful and conditional: it asks managers to surrender free throws and believe four more minutes are coming.

Year two made the outrageous projection plausible

Clingan played 19.8 minutes as a rookie and averaged 6.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks. Last season his workload climbed to 27.2 minutes. The line followed: 12.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.7 blocks across 77 games.

Model Zero asks for another 3.8 minutes and projects 13.3 rebounds with 2.1 blocks. That is an aggressive step, but it is not coming from nowhere. He averaged 12.5 rebounds in January and 13.0 in February, then reached at least 2.3 blocks in both February and March.

The season was also durable. Seventy-seven games give the role projection more weight than a breakout built from a short stretch. Clingan's fantasy value does not require a 25-point scoring leap. It requires the late-season rebounding and rim protection to survive a starter's workload.

Ja Morant should create easier offense, not steal the useful stats

Portland acquired Ja Morant from Memphis in June, according to ESPN's 2026 trade tracker. A high-usage guard will take shots and possessions. Clingan does not need either category to justify his price.

The fit can improve the scoring chances that matter: finishes near the rim, putbacks after a defense rotates, and quick passes against a collapsing paint. Model Zero projects only 13.6 points, so it is not paying for a major offensive breakout. Even a modest increase in efficient attempts helps his field-goal percentage carry more weight.

Morant's arrival also makes Clingan's low turnovers more valuable. The guard can absorb creation while the center finishes plays. In a punt-free-throws build, that division of labor is exactly what a manager wants.

The first missed free throw makes the decision for you

Clingan shot 59.6% as a rookie and 68.0% last season. The projection is 67.7%. Managers should assume damage, not improvement. The effect depends on attempts, but selecting him early makes it difficult to build a strong free-throw roster without paying a premium elsewhere.

That is why his ninth-overall rank should be read as a build signal rather than a universal draft instruction. Punt free throws and his rebounds, blocks, field-goal percentage, and low turnovers become devastating. Keep free throws and every later pick has to work against the drag.

The no-punt rank already includes that damage, so free throws alone do not justify pushing him down two rounds. The additional discount comes from uncertainty: he has never carried the projected workload, and a balanced roster has fewer ways to absorb a bad shooting week. Managers committed to the punt can draft nearer the top-ten projection. Everyone else should leave room for the minutes and percentages to miss together.

The small three-point contribution is a bonus, not a reason to call him a stretch center. He made 1.1 per game last season and projects for 1.2. That is enough to avoid an empty category while his real value remains near the basket.

Thirty-one minutes remains the leap of faith

Clingan has never averaged 30 minutes across a full NBA season. Model Zero projects 31. Robert Williams III remains on the roster, and even if he is not a long-term threat to the job, any healthy stretch can absorb center minutes. Portland can also use smaller lineups when matchups demand it.

The playoff sample offers a warning: Clingan fell to 21.4 minutes, 7.8 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks across five games. Five games should not erase the regular season, but it shows the workload is not automatic against every opponent.

There is also a scoring ceiling. If the minutes land at 27 again and the free throws remain poor, Clingan can be an excellent specialist without returning top-ten overall value. Draft price must leave room for the role projection to miss.

A Clingan build needs guards immediately

Once free throws are set aside, the next priorities are assists, steals, points, and threes. Clingan already gives the roster enough rebounds and blocks to avoid chasing another traditional center at full price. High-volume guards become easier to select because their field-goal percentage and turnovers can be absorbed by his strengths. The trap is doubling down on bigs until the roster wins three categories by a mile and cannot reach five. Use Clingan's concentration to buy scarce perimeter stats, not more of what he already supplies.

Clingan is a strategy, not merely a selection

Clingan belongs near the first-round turn for managers committed to punting free throws, and in the second round for balanced builds that can absorb his percentages and role risk. Do not draft the No. 9 label without drafting the strategy that supports it.

The upside is real because the hardest categories already appeared. The risk is simple: four projected minutes and one punt are doing a lot of work.

That also makes preseason role news unusually important. A consistent place with the starters matters more than a big scoring game. If Portland signals a center split, move him down. If 30-minute nights look normal, the top-ten case becomes much easier to trust before the season begins.

See Donovan Clingan's full player profile, or test a free-throw punt on the 2026–27 fantasy basketball board.

Sources and data notes

• Ball Ranks 2026–27 Model Zero projection, 9-category per-game rankings, season history, and monthly splits: September 12, 2026 snapshot.
• ESPN 2026 NBA offseason trade tracker: Ja Morant's move to Portland.