Damian Lillard's storybook return to Rip City this summer may have masked the fact that the Portland Trail Blazers seem to have also added one of the most interesting young prospects from the 2025 NBA Draft.
Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes has recently made it a point to shed light on this latter happening.
Trail Blazers rookie Yang Hansen tabbed as one of biggest draft steals
In a piece penned by the B/R veteran, first-round selection Yang Hansen was tabbed as one of five players, in particular, who, throughout Summer League and thus far into training camp, he believes have "outperformed their billing to this point."
Upon being selected 16 overall by the Trail Blazers, many were quick to call the decision a rather risky reach. The Ringer's J. Kyle Mann even gave the pick a lowly D grading following the draft, citing the fact that Portland took him "much, much higher" than he believes many other teams would have.
A las, roughly four months removed from that fateful night, Hughes believes Joe Cronin may have been a step ahead of the rest of the league, as Hansen is now being argued as one of the biggest steals from his respective class.
"The shift may have started at Summer League, where the 7'1" center's highly advanced passing shone immediately. The No. 16 pick has three unteachable qualities—great hands, feet and feel—that separate him from most players at his position. He'll face some challenges athletically; Hansen isn't going to cram down lobs from above the square, and opponents will test him in space on defense. But he has something close to a superpower in his vision and facility with the ball," Hughes wrote.
Since this piece by Hughes was published, Hansen and the Blazers have gone on to see two more games of preseason play, where the big man has only further wowed fans with his impressive two-way play and highly versitile offensive instincts, dropping averages of 6.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.0 blocks on 40.0 percent shooting from the floor.
Throughout the preseason as a whole, Yang finds himself boasting averages of 8.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from distance in 18.4 minutes a night.
Now, even with this newfound hope following the skepticism heard immediately after the draft, no one should be expecting to see the center serving as a top-flight difference-maker for the Blazers right out of the gates.
From honing his scoring prowess on a more consistent basis to simply getting familiar with the NBA's style of play, the rookie will need time to get acclimated.
However, the end goal is to have him take on the role of an efficient offensive hub within the rotation once he's comfortable enough for such a bump. At his size, and considering he's still only 20 years old, Hansen's upside is seemingly through the roof.
So much so, in fact, that Hughes subtly drew comparisons between his game and that of three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
In a span of months, it's excitingly evident that the intrigue surrounding the big man has grown exponentially.