Where Donovan Clingan ranks in preseason ROTY voting

The Portland Trail Blazers are just one day away from starting their 2024-25 season. Even though the expectations for the team are not high, they have many young and exciting players who want to make a name for themselves.

The Trail Blazers have a lot of young players on their roster, but none may be better than their rookie center Donovan Clingan.

Clingan is about to enter his first year in the NBA and wants to make a name for himself at the NBA level. He certainly did just that at the college level, winning back-to-back NCAA titles, but as we all know, the NBA is night and day compared to college.

Clingan is expected to be one of the best rookies in this year's class. After being the No. 7 overall pick in this year's draft, he has a good chance of winning the 2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year award.

How good are his chances? Well, according to NBA betting sites, Clingan has the ninth-best odds to win the award. Clingan has a +2500 chance of taking home the award.

The eight players ahead of Clingan are Carlton Carrington (Wizards), Dalton Knecht (Lakers), Alex Sarr (Wizards), Stephon Castle (Spurs), Matas Buzelis (Bulls), Zaccharie Risacher (Hawks), Reed Sheppard (Rockets), and Zach Edey (Grizzlies) with the best odds of +400.

Clingan is arguably the most accomplished player compared to any other top rookie to this point. The 20-year-old led UConn to back-to-back titles and has what it takes to become a solid NBA star. He stands 7-foot-2 and can defend with the best of them because of his size and length on the court.

Although he has all the tools and skills to play a central role in the Blazers' rotation soon, he will start as the backup center behind Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III.

Still, both centers are at risk of injury, as we've seen throughout their careers. If Clingan stays healthy, he could play an even more significant role than we expect from him.

Before the NBA, Clingan was at UConn and put the nation on the map. In two seasons, he averaged 9.8 points per game, 6.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 2.1 blocks while shooting 54.5 percent from the field and 65.3 percent from the free throw line.

Portland is excited to see what Clingan can become, and we'll see how he performs in his first-ever NBA season, which begins Wednesday.

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