On a night of “guarantees”, “pretty sures”, and “what ifs”, the Portland Trail Blazers went with a “huh?”. After trading with the Memphis Grizzlies the 11th Pick (Cedric Coward) for the 16th Pick and a 2028 1st Round pick and two 2nd Round picks.
The Blazers were expected to draft anyone from Cedric Cower, Derik Queen, Carter Bryant, Thomas Sorber, or even Kasparas Jakucionis. But Joe Cronin and Mike Schmitz had other plans. They selected Yang Hansen, the 19-year-old Center (who turned 20 on June 26—the day of the 2nd Round), who’s more affectionately known as “Chinese Jokic”, from the grandstands. Not even the floor with the tables filled with players and their families. He had to walk down the steps and figure out a path to get to Adam Silver and the stage. Casey Holdahl recently interviewed Hansen who mentioned he was in the middle of eating fried chicken when his name was called. A hilarious comparison to Jokic who was famously drafted in the 2nd Round during a Taco Bell ad. A surprise is an understatement as Blazers’ twitter was as shocked as anyone when Silver announced Hansen’s name.
Who is this kid who was expected to go in the middle of the 2nd Round? He measured in at 7’1” and 253lbs with a 9’3” standing reach. Yeah, he’s tall but height and basketball quality don’t go hand-in-hand.
*Mike Schmitz has entered the chat*
Back in December 2023, he was seen in China to watch Hansen as he put up a 31-16-4-4 stat line. Rocketing passes around the court like he’s been in The League for over a decade. Clearly this isn’t a fluke if the man who helped create Draft Express is heavily interested in him. And since the Blazers were fielding offers for the 11th pick, they felt if they found a suitor after 16 he might not be available, so here we are. They didn’t want to let the two-time Chinese CBA Rooking of the Year (yes you read that correctly) slip through their fingers. All of this to say, it’s understood the Blazers have had their eyes on Hansen since well before the 2025 NBA Combine, and their proverbial eyes don’t look to be fuller than their basketball bellies.
The most obvious question about Yang Hansen is if he’s going to be another injury flameout like other Blazer bigs, or if he’s going to fall more in line with the stability of Yao Ming and Nikola Jokic. Unfortunately for the Blazers, their history with drafting tall, young dudes hasn’t been the greatest: Sam Bowie and Greg Oden to name a couple. But if the tape we’ve seen on Hansen tells his story more than the previous, it’s that he is (from our limited resources) sturdy. He’s not thin, lanky, and had previous injuries like Sam Bowie. He can move up and down the court and can take some hits under the basket. On top of that, his court vision is why people are comparing him to Jokic. Even Domantas Sabonis had great things to say in an interview on Hansen. And to be honest, the more tape I’m watching the more I’m believing Schmitz and Cronin knew what they were doing.
Summer League will be our first chance to see how he looks, and it might be one of the most anticipated games outside of Cooper Flagg and some of the other top 5ish draftees. There’s a lot of faith in Chauncey and Cronin of the direction of this team. And if they’re going to continue to build a defensive identity, getting a 7’1” big man that can throw the rock around to cutters in his sleep isn’t a bad idea. Maybe there’s something brewing in Portland? If this works, Hansen is gonna be talked about for years. If not, it’ll be another page in the book of swing-and-misses by Portland. It’s time for this to work. Not because I’m begging for it to work as a diehard fan, but at some point, you’re gonna hit the home run you’ve been swinging for after all these years.