Portland Trail Blazers starting center Deandre Ayton has been officially ruled out of Tuesday night’s upcoming home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report. The more than 2 meters tall man is suffering from a sprain of his right index finger.

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Highkin adds that Donovan Clingan, a 7-foot-10 rookie selected No. 7 overall in this summer’s 2024 NBA Draft, will start in Ayton’s place. Clingan, a two-time NCAA champion with the University of Connecticut Huskies, has emerged as head coach Chauncey Billups’ de facto first choice to serve as the backup five. In 11 games for Portland so far, the 20-year-old is averaging 4.8 points on 53.8 percent shooting from the floor and 76.9 percent shooting from the charity stripe, along with 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 13.9 minutes per match.

With the return of Robert Williams III, deep-bench center Reath’s problems will continue. Over his two games so far, the former All-Defensive Teamer is averaging 8.5 points on .667/.500/1.000 shooting splits, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 assists per night, in just 14.0 minutes per night.

Reath, meanwhile, had a pretty solid rookie season in 2023-24 but was buried on the Blazers’ depth chart for most of this season. In just six games this year, Reath is averaging just 3.3 minutes per night. Last year he averaged 9.1 points on .461/.359/.742 shooting splits, 3.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.6 blocks and 0.5 steals. Until the Trail Blazers can trade Ayton and/or Williams, Reath could face some tough sledding when it comes to carving out real minutes.

According to the league’s latest injury report, two-time All-Defensive swingman Matisse Thybulle will sit out while he recovers from his right knee injury. The veteran shooting guard/small forward has yet to make his debut for Portland this season.

Two-way Timberwolves players Daishen Nix, Jaylen Clark and Jesse Edwards are all with the team’s NBAGL affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, as is small forward Leonard Miller.

Ayton has had another modest scoring start to his second season in Portland. Across his eleven healthy stints, he is averaging a career-high 13.3 points on .519/.385/.625 shooting splits, plus 10.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks per night .

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