We are just hours away from the official start of the Yang Hansen era in Portland. The hype has been steadily building all summer long since the Blazers shocked the basketball world and snagged Hansen No. 16 overall in the draft, and fans will finally get to watch him play a real game. Blazers fans are going to learn a lot about Yang, his role, and the coaching staff's confidence in him on opening night — whether he plays big minutes or not.
He's not the starting center, as that title belongs to Donovan Clingan. I'm not 100 percent sure he will be the backup center to start the year, either, as Duop Reath has proven to be a pretty reliable option in that role.
We'll learn pretty quickly just how far along Chauncey Billups and the coaching staff believe Yang to be; if Reath comes off the bench first, which I think is a real possibility, that is an early sign that Yang's rookie (understandably) is going to be about the long-term outlook and not immediate success.
When Yang does enter the game and inevitably makes a rookie mistake (as all rookies do), we'll learn another important truth: how patient Billups will be with him early on. Will one rookie mistake warrant him heading back to the bench, or will he be allowed to make those mistakes, work through them, and improve because of it? Billups has been complimentary of his rookie throughout the training camp process, but I also don't think he's the kind of coach who will give Hansen consistent minutes merely because there's excitement around him.
Blazers fans need to be patient with Yang Hansen (and his development)
Hansen averaged 18.4 minutes per game in the preseason and was very good in stints, while looking very lost at times, too. The playmaking already surpasses about half the centers in the NBA; the defense might not surpass any of them. And that's fine! If he were a perfect prospect, he probably wouldn't have gone No. 16 in the draft.
I don't think Yang Hansen is going to play 20 minutes per night in his rookie year, and that's totally fine. We, as fans, often forget just how hard it is for players to acclimate to the pace of the NBA. Rookies rarely provide positive impacts, especially non-lottery picks, so seeing Hansen dish a nice pass or two per game, show off his impressive footwork, or run the floor in transition and finish with an impressive dunk should be good enough for Blazers fans in 2025-26. It's not all going to happen at once. Remind yourself of that when the rookie wall strikes.
How much we'll actually see Hansen in the early stages of the season remains a question. How much responsibility he'll carry on the offensive end also remains a question. Whether or not he's NBA-ready at all remains the biggest question of all. We'll start to get answers for each of those pretty early on, though, for better or worse.