The Portland Trail Blazers made Donovan Clingan the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, but he was projected to go as high as No. 1.

In the Las Vegas Summer League, Clingan proved to be one of the better prospects there, leading the showcase in blocks and rebounds per game.

That’s why CBS Sports writer Kyle Boone has Clingan going No. 3 to the Houston Rockets in his NBA redraft.

There was steam into the final day that Clingan might go No. 1 overall to Atlanta. Clingan wound up falling all the way to No. 7 on draft night, though, which in the moment seemed absurd and in hindsight seems mind-boggling. He led all players in blocks and rebounds and has been every bit the defensive anchor we expected he’d be in the NBA like he was at UConn.

In the exercise, Reed Sheppard went No. 1 to the Atlanta Hawks while Zaccharie Risacher fell to No. 2 with the Washington Wizards.

For the Blazers, they ended up with Zach Edey at No. 7 after he originally went No. 9 to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Portland snagged a surprise faller in Clingan at No. 7 the first go-round but here they reach up in a surprise to nab Edey higher than expected. The 7-foot-4 Purdue star was the national player of the year in each of his final seasons in college and looked dominant in limited minutes in Summer League for the Grizz.

While Edey had a strong showing at Summer League, the Blazers should be happy with the early returns on Clingan.