After trading down from No. 11 to No. 16, the Trail Blazers have used their first-round pick to select Chinese center Hansen Yang.
It’s a surprising pick for the Blazers, who are rolling the dice on the big man well above where he was ranked by most draft experts. ESPN had Yang at No. 35 on their last big board prior to the draft. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie had him ranked No. 48 in his draft guide.
Yang has spent the past two seasons with Qingdao in the Chinese Basketball Association, averaging 16.2 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.7 blocks and 0.9 steals in 53 games this past season.
Yang was named the CBA’s Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in 2024. He led the CBA in blocked shots last year and has some really intriguing skills for a big man. He showed great touch at the rim, shooting 59.5% from the floor.
We previously noted Yang made his mark at the NBA draft combine, standing out in scrimmages. The Blazers clearly came away impressed with the young big man, and add him to a center rotation that currently includes Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams and Deandre Ayton.
Yang attended the first round of the draft tonight despite not being invited to the green room.
A reach of a pick in a position where you already have Clingan, Ayton, and Time Lord.
This has been a bad offseason for Portland
Yeah, Ayton has to be going somewhere.
Kuminga for Ayton straight up
Not possible . In a sign and trade, a team now can only take back 50% in salary. The W’s would have to include other players.
Yea! Portland out-stupids the Suns, picks up its 8th center beating out the Suns 7.
This is definitely 1 of my favorite players in this class. He’s gonna be better than any of the bigs Portland currently has. I always thought the Clingan pick was bad. It looks even worse now.
Ha.
Now it just seems like you’re trolling. Saying Clingan is a bad pick is crazy
Clingan best case is Mutombo level & I’m guessing that’s what you’re seeing. I see his best case as like Tristan Thompson level reb/def focused big. I def don’t see him being as good as Yang will be. His hands will never be good enough to be a threat as a scorer. He’s just not gonna ever be a plus starter imo. I can’t remember who went behind him but ik Edey went after him & has clearly been better throughout their careers, including last yr. I think he’ll be decent but more as a plus backup.
No I’m seeing more of a Jakob Poetl/zubac kind of player. I don’t see much similarities between himself and Tristan Thompson. And although I thought Edey was drafted higher than he should have, he definitely has his role in the league. Hopefully stays healthy. Since they’ve been in the league a year it’s kind of tough to say who is better than who. I definitely think Yang is talented and crafty around the rim
Why not trade down again to the end of the first and try to pick him up there? I hope the Blazers heard (accurate) rumblings of another team eyeing him, or else this looks like a very big reach.
> Why not trade down again to the end of the first and
> try to pick him up there?
Good question. Here’s a wild guess: Portland is in a race with Phoenix to be the first NBA team ever with 6 centers under contract. We’re talking “triple towers” big.
Portland was sitting pretty with 5 centers, but Phoenix was closing the gap with the addition of Maluach and Mark Williams, and Phoenix has another late first round pick, #25, that had “Hanson Wang” written all over it. So, naturally, Portland acted pre-emptively drafting Wang with the 15th pick.
This was the biggest reach and I think he needs a year to develop.
This has to be a China business move.