The Portland Trail Blazers nailed the Yang Hansen pick. However, they are now presented with a roster dilemma after investing consecutive first-round picks at the center position. This becomes even more problematic when considering that neither Donovan Clingan nor Hansen can effectively play the power forward position in the modern NBA.
Blazers have a center logjam with no easy solution
Offensively, playing alongside each other could shrink the floor too much to make it worthwhile. Clingan shot 28.6% from beyond the arc as a rookie, while Hansen averaged 29.1% from deep in two seasons with the Qingdao Eagles. Both have shown a willingness to shoot the three-ball, which is encouraging. But we are years away from that becoming a reliable part of either player's offensive arsenal.
Defensively, it could be even more of an issue. The Rockets are often brought up as a team that effectively brought back the Twin Towers lineup, as Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun provided Houston with a massive advantage on the interior. Hansen has some similarities with Sengun on the offensive end in terms of his basketball IQ and passing. Still, the underrated aspect of Sengun's game that makes Houston's unconventional lineup work is his agility. Hansen doesn't possess that same level of quickness to hold his own defensively out on the perimeter. It wouldn't work to have two rim protectors share the court, as any advantage Portland had in that aspect would be mitigated by the liability of their perimeter defense.
Portland is well on track to become an elite defensive team in the 2025-26 season after swapping Anfernee Simons for Jrue Holiday, but they can't afford to have a weak link that teams can easily exploit in mismatches if they want that to be the case.
Another factor to consider is that Chauncey Billups has emphasized Portland playing with more pace this season. Although Clingan's improved conditioning should help, it's going to be much more challenging to make a reality if he and Hansen are on the floor together.
The Blazers are trending in the direction of a young, athletic team that prides itself on the defensive end, letting their defense lead to offense with transition opportunities. A double-big lineup would defeat the purpose of this entire identity they are trending towards.
We love the Hansen pick, don't get us wrong. But it does come with questions for this Blazers roster. Although their centers complement each other in terms of skill sets to give them another dimension, they are not complementary as bigs who can play alongside each other.
Portland may eventually have to pick between one and the other if they want to balance their roster construction, which is a difficult situation after adding two promising pieces to their rebuild.