The Portland Trail Blazers aren’t good enough to be drafting for fit, and that’s why the team selected Chinese big man Yang Hansen in the first-round of the 2025 NBA Draft one year after taking another center, Donovan Clingan, in the lottery. The Blazers were widely panned for “reaching” for Hansen, a projected second round pick, at No. 16 overall, including by me at this site. Well, after watching him at Las Vegas Summer League and early in the NBA preseason, I can already see the vision of Portland’s front office.
Hansen played his second preseason game on Friday night, and it was electric. As the Trail Blazers beat the Kings, 124-123, Hansen looked like the best player on the floor during his 17 minutes of playing time. He ended the night with 16 points, four rebounds, three blocks, and an assist on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor, 2-of-3 shooting from three, and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line. Portland out-scored Sacramento by nine points when he was on the floor.
The numbers are excellent, but also don’t really matter because it’s just preseason. What’s more encouraging is just how comfortable the rookie big man looked on the floor, showing a sweet shooting stroke, some creation ability off the dribble, and legitimate rim protection. Watch the highlights here:
Hansen was called “the Chinese Jokic” coming into the draft, and that’s ridiculous. I feel terrible for putting it in this headline, but that’s the game when it comes to free-to-read internet sports articles. A disclaimer: No young basketball player should ever be compared to Nikola Jokic. The Denver Nuggets superstar has been the best player in the world for the last five years, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down at 30 years old. Jokic is going down as a top-10 player all-time when it’s said and done, and he’s going to force some really uncomfortable conversations about his place vs. your childhood favorites.
With that disclaimer out of the way, Hansen does share some similarities with Jokic, just not in terms of his all-around impact. He’s a bit slow-footed at 7’1, 260 pounds, but he plays at his own speed and rarely looks rushed. This pump-and-go drive is a great example: there’s the behind-the-back dribble, the spin move, and the ability to leverage his strength and length to get close to the basket before finishing with soft touch.
That’s a pretty move, and it’s especially effective if he can keep ripping the nets from three-point range as he did on Friday.
It’s hard to say how impactful Hansen will be as a rookie. He’s likely going to struggle with fouls — he had five fouls in 17 minutes in this game! He could have turnover issues too as he tries some daring passes, and he had three in this game. I also think quicker guards are going to be able to roast Hansen in the pick-and-roll as he tries to get up to the level of the screen. He doesn’t have much coverage versatility defensively, looking mostly like a drop-style big to this point, and that will cap his value some.
Teams spent the pre-draft process asking about what Hansen couldn’t do. The Blazers are a believer in what he can do, and sometimes that’s all a young player needs. I don’t know if Hansen and Clingan can play together, but two big pairings are all the rage around the league right now, so maybe it’s not that crazy.
One thing is for sure: it’s going to be awesome to watch Hansen try to figure out his place in the league regardless of how impactful he ends up being. This feels like one of the better stories going in the NBA right now. Get on board early.