It took two preseason games for Yang Hansen to make Blazers look genius

The Portland Trail Blazers evened out their preseason record at 1-1 with a thrilling 124-123 win in their home opener against the Sacramento Kings. However, more important than the win was the play of Yang Hansen.

Portland's rookie looked night and day better than his underwhelming debut. Despite playing just 17 minutes in this contest against Sacramento, Hansen finished with 16 points, four rebounds, one assist, and three blocks on efficient 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 shooting from deep.

Portland's Yang Hansen gamble is already paying off

A few flaws that showed in his first preseason game carried over to this one, including his overall speed, turnovers, and tendency to foul. Hansen fouled out in his debut against the Golden State Warriors, recording just four points, four rebounds, one assist, and four turnovers in 21 minutes. In this win over Sacramento, Hansen had three turnovers and five fouls.

Turnovers were an issue throughout Hansen's summer league play, but it was too early to consider it a red flag because we didn't know how much was due to the teammates around him not being able to handle his somewhat risky passes. With a two-game sample size playing alongside more talent in the preseason, it's now apparent that it's a problem he'll need to address.

Some of these issues, such as his speed, will take a lot of time to fix; Blazers fans will have to be patient with his development and inevitable growing pains as an international rookie adjusting to an entirely new league and country. That said, this preseason game showed exactly why Hansen is a prospect worth investing in.

Fans are finally getting a chance to see everything the Blazers front office loved about him when they scouted him two years ago. In this game alone, Hansen had multiple plays where he was already showcasing a skillset that few centers in the NBA possess. He looked much more confident, which resulted in a third-quarter scoring outburst, including back-to-back three-pointers.

All of Hansen's strengths as a prospect were on full display in this contest. He effectively spaced the floor, found Shaedon Sharpe for a backdoor cut, led and finished a fastbreak, and even had a nice move on former Blazer Drew Eubanks.

That looks more like the player we saw throughout summer league.

Chauncey Billups expects Hansen to make an immediate impact for Portland this season. He's already earning a key rotational role in a crowded Portland backcourt. And the scary thought for the rest of the league is, this is just the beginning. There are serious flashes of star upside in Hansen's game.

Many criticized Portland for taking a gamble on him with the No. 16 overall pick. But it's already clear he should've gone even earlier.