Trail Blazers basketball is back! Well, sort of. Portland will take on the Phoenix Suns in a nightcap game tonight, which will be their first contest of the annual Summer League tournament. It might not feel like it, but this is an important event for teams, especially ones with plenty of young talent, like the Blazers.
Here are three things to monitor for Portland throughout their Summer League adventure:
1. Improvement for Yang Hansen
Not to beat a dead horse, but Yang Hansen’s rookie year was a disappointing one. He was buried in the depth chart, and whenever he saw the floor, he looked too raw to stay on it. Yang was always going to be a project, but his freshman campaign proved he’s even more unpolished than anticipated.
This Summer League will be a big test for him as he enters year two with the Blazers. He needs to show some signs of growth or the alarms will start blaring even louder. Now, given how many areas for improvement he has, expecting him to get better across the board would be unfair. He should focus on establishing one or two skills he can hang his hat on while he rounds out the rest of his game.
Maybe it’s shooting and high-post playmaking. Maybe it’s rim protection. Maybe it’s post scoring. Whatever he and the coaching staff fancy is fine, but the bottom line is Yang has to find his role for this team, or else he could spiral into bust territory.
2. Two-way guys making some noise
Portland’s two current two-way contract players, Chris Youngblood and Jayson Kent, both joined the club late last season. They only logged two and five games played for the Blazers in 2025-26, respectively. So, they’re very much still finding their footing in Rip City, and Summer League will be a prime opportunity for them to make some noise.
Sidy Cissoko and Caleb Love just proved there’s a real path for two-way guys to crack the rotation in Portland. Youngblood and Kent are no doubt hungry to follow in their footsteps, and they could begin their journey with strong Summer League performances.
3. Who can shoot?
It’s no secret how badly Portland still needs to inject some shooting into their lineup. Because they already have a pretty cemented core, any perimeter-inclined addition they make will likely have to come on the margins. That’s where Summer League comes in.
Maybe Chris Youngblood, who earned his first NBA deal with OKC last summer because he shot the lights out in Vegas, will end up looking like a viable option to patch some of the Blazers’ shooting holes. If not him, there are several guys on the Summer League roster who offer some juice from beyond the arc, including Jalen Bridges, Quincy Olivari, Andrew Carr, DJ Steward, and Flynn Cameron. One of those NBA hopefuls could land Portland’s final two-way slot if their jumpers are on point this week.
Overall, this should be an exciting slate of hoops for Blazers fans, even though this team doesn’t have an AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson to get pumped about.
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