Portland Trail Blazers Rookie center Donovan Clingan brings some national intrigue to the franchise for the upcoming NBA season. His pedigree as a lottery pick and two-time NCAA champion UCONN generates attention, even on a Blazers team that is expected to finish near the bottom of the West Division.
After the NBA released the regular season schedule for the 2024-25 season this week, Zach Harper from The Athletic listed the 35 games he’s looking forward to this year (subscription required)The Blazers made two appearances on the list, both thanks to Clingan’s involvement. Truth be told, that was two more appearances than I expected in a national publication, but I had forgotten about Cling Kong and was glad to be proven wrong.
The first Blazers game Harper highlighted was Portland’s road game against the San Antonio Spurs on November 7. The match will see Clingan face fellow freshman and former UCONN teammate Stephon Castle.
UConn Meeting: Portland Trail Blazers vs. San Antonio Spurs, [5 p.m. PDT] November 7th
Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle just won the NCAA Championship together. Now? They’re mortal enemies! Or just on different teams! Either way, the fourth overall pick (Castle) will be facing off against his former teammate, the seventh overall pick (Clingan), and we could see Dan Hurley there if the Lakers The Huskies are not playing that night.
The second Blazers game Harper mentioned will be three days later, on Nov. 10, when the Blazers host the Memphis Grizzlies. Harper highlighted that game because it features a battle between two big-time rookies: Clingan and Memphis center Zach Edey.
NCAA Title Game Meeting: Memphis Grizzlies vs. Portland Trail Blazers, [6 p.m. PDT] November 10
Clingan has a lot more on his mind than just his reunion with Castle. The 2024 NCAA Championship game saw him face an even bigger man Zach Edey Purdue, who was selected ninth overall in the draft by the Grizzlies. These two rather tough rookies will have a chance to battle it out in the paint again. Will either try to fit into the modern NBA and shoot some hoops? Tune in to find out!
Despite Harper’s interest, neither matchup is scheduled to be broadcast on national television. As of now, the only Blazers game scheduled to be broadcast on national television is Portland’s Jan. 28 home game against the Milwaukee Bucks when the Blazers welcome back Damian Lillard. That game is scheduled to air on TNT.
You can check out Portland’s full 2024-25 regular season schedule here (it was put on a nice clean table by Timmay!).
