The Portland Trail Blazers shocked the NBA world when they took such a high-risk, high-reward gamble in the draft this past summer. Was Yang Hansen the steal or bust of the 2025 NBA Draft?
It's been a rough start to put it gently. Hansen is just 20 years old and still has plenty of time to figure out how to adjust to the NBA, but unfortunately, early on, it's leaning toward bust territory.
That leaves the Blazers -- a team that just invested consecutive first-round picks at the center position -- somehow still hurting for frontcourt depth. The uncertainty surrounding whether their Hansen selection will eventually pan out complicates things for their front office going forward, especially as they look to navigate the Feb. 5 trade deadline that's just three weeks away.
Yang Hansen's slow start complicates Portland's entire frontcourt
The majority of trade candidates for Portland lie in the frontcourt, with Robert Williams III being the headliner. The Blazers have reportedly made Williams available for trade, with many viewing them as more willing to actually trade him this trade season compared to last, when they ultimately stood pat. Williams is on an expiring deal, and his injury history makes him an unreliable asset, no matter how well he's played for Portland this season.
But where does that leave them in the frontcourt going forward?
The other options are playing Duop Reath or Jerami Grant as a small-ball five, but both those players are potential trade candidates, too! Reath's production has declined since his feel-good rookie season, completely falling out of Tiago Splitter's rotation. In contrast, Grant's production has drastically improved compared to last season, but that means it's an opportunity for Portland to sell high and finally offload his massive contract.
In a perfect world, the Blazers could've solved all these issues at once, getting value for both Williams and Reath before they hit free agency, while gaining more financial flexibility by trading Grant (which would go a long way toward a future Deni Avdija extension). That is, if they were confident that Hansen would actually be a serviceable long-term backup for Clingan.
That's not even factoring in the overlap between Clingan and Hansen as two centers who constantly get exposed out on the perimeter. Regardless of how Hansen pans out, Portland still needs to add another dimension to its frontcourt with a more versatile center. Williams has been filling that role well, but unfortunately, that's not a sustainable solution.
Missing on a mid-first round pick isn't the type of mistake that drastically sets back a team's rebuild. Still, it's frustrating that the Blazers don't even know whether they drafted a backup center after fans endured another losing season.
Most teams come away with much more after winning just 36 games.