After selecting Donovan Clingan, Blazers general manager Joe Cronin made an important decision

PORTLAND, Ore. — It was Thursday morning, hours after the first round of the NBA draft concluded, when Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin knew he had to call veteran center Deandre Ayton. The day before, Cronin had used the seventh overall pick to draft Connecticut center Donovan Clingan. Knowing how egos and feelings can be bruised when teams draft high-profile players, the Blazers general manager wanted to reach out to his 2023-24 starter.

When Cronin reached out to Ayton, who is training with the Bahamas national team, he said there was no tension on the other end of the line. No passive-aggressive silence. No concern about his position.

“Deandre was incredibly excited,” Cronin said.

Any questions Ayton might have asked—Why did you pick a center? … Is he replacing me? … What does this mean for me?—were couched in a positive tone.

“He said, ‘OK, where can we go?’” Cronin said. “(He asked) How can he help me? How can I help him? What can we do together?” His attitude was great throughout the whole situation.

The phone call goes a long way toward addressing a blurry picture at center for the Blazers, who also feature veteran Robert Williams III and second-year sharpshooter Duop Reath.

After spending much of last fall and early winter frustrated with Ayton skipping rehab appointments, being late for practice, and throwing tantrums, the franchise now celebrates Ayton as a staple. While Cronin can’t say for sure what’s in store for this Blazers team in the coming weeks, there are strong indications that Ayton will be in the middle of whatever the Blazers do next season.

To start, coach Chauncey Billups is preparing to fly to Valencia, Spain, to watch and support Ayton as the Bahamas compete in the FIBA ​​Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Billups will be in the stands when the Bahamas opens against Finland on Tuesday. As Billups engages with Ayton, that will undoubtedly include discussions about expanding his role next season. Billups said Saturday Athleticism He plans to experiment next season with Ayton (6’3″) at power forward and Clingan (6’5″) at center. He also said he continues to encourage Ayton to develop his mid-range shot and possibly incorporate a 3-pointer.

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

Billups nods in agreement and continues, “What I’m not going to do is put him on the court to defend against Jayson Tatum. Or Kevin Durant … it’s going to be a situational thing. But I’m telling you, I think the league is going to try to expand inside. So, I think it’ll be fun.”

It’s too early to say for sure whether the Blazers will enter September training camp with Ayton and Clingan. The Blazers have a maximum of 15 players under contract, but Cronin said Athleticism he remains in a proactive mode of upgrading the workforce.

“I’m constantly looking for ways to get better,” Cronin said. “That’s my challenge. We’re not good enough yet. We have to get better. We like what we’ve done, but we can’t rest. We have to keep moving forward. A lot of what we do is player development… you know, we have a lot of young guys that we have to groom. But our challenge is also to attract as many top players as possible.”

Still, it’s become clear that Portland is intrigued by what an Ayton-Clingan duo can accomplish, whether together or in a pack.

Billups was quick to point out the Blazers’ last-place finish in basket protection last season, so he was thrilled when Clingan — who won a title in his last four years playing basketball (two in high school, two in Connecticut) — slipped to the Blazers in seventh overall.

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

Billups said he will use the same drop defense he used last season (center drops to the basket while defending the pick-and-roll), when Portland ranked 23rd out of 30 teams in defensive efficiency. Dropping to protect the rim is Clingan’s strength, which is accentuated by his ability to stay vertical, a skill he said was honed by Connecticut coach Dan Hurley. Clingan said his drive to play elite defense comes from his mother, Stacey, who died of breast cancer when he was in eighth grade. His mother was a three-time Maine conference player of the year.

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

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

“He’s going to spend a lot of time with that red paint under his feet in our defense,” Billups said of Clingan. “I think most teams will reconsider attacking our paint … it’s a game changer.”

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

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

After practice, Billups took Clingan into his office and interviewed him. One of his first questions of Clingan was why he had only attempted nine three-pointers in two seasons at UConn.

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

Billups said Clingan will enter the season with the green light to shoot 3-pointers, provided it’s open and it’s a smart shot. With the Blazers relying on Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson, two players who like to attack the basket, Billups said it’s critical for the Blazers to have big men who can space the floor.

“Understanding that we’re going to attack the basket, giving Clingan space … their big guy is going to have to make a decision (stop the drive or defend the outside shot),” Billups said. “And that’s a weapon you can use. So it’ll be fun for me to design things to have that, because even late last year I was talking to DA about expanding his range.”

Cronin and Billups also noted that Clingan is an underrated passer who has a deep understanding of the nuances and feel of plays. All of which explains why Clingan has so much appeal to the Blazers — and to Ayton.

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

“It’s like my team wins and your team loses.”

Required reading

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