Deandre Ayton has departed the Portland Trail Blazers, but his replacement looks more than capable. Yang Hansen has really been turning heads and raising eyebrows during preseason.
On Friday against the Sacramento Kings, Hansen scored 16 points in just 17 minutes. He did it on 62/66/100% shooting splits. 14 of those points came during a five-minute stretch in the third quarter, wherein Hansen displayed some high-level offensive skills that had Blazers fans buzzing with excitement.
Portland's rookie big man was drafted with the understanding that he'd be bringing rare skill and versatility for his size to the court. So far, he has not failed to live up to expectations, and has been carrying his shooting touch and flair over into preseason. He's been playing with the kind of confidence you don't typically find in a rookie.
Hansen's shooting range is one of the first things about his skillset that stands out to even the casual observer. But beyond just being a flashy scorer and shooter, he also sees the floor extremely well. Hansen has the kind of passing chops and court vision that had scouts comparing him to something of a young Nikola Jokic.
Yang Hansen is living up to the hype so far
Reviews on Hansen's defense were more mixed headed into the draft, but he's already shown some flashes there as well. His three rejections against the Kings show that he has some base-level instincts defending the paint, and there's going to be room for him to grow into an above average-level rim protector in due time.
There's still the issue of him being young and committing the kind of mistakes a new player to the NBA is naturally going to make. Hansen committed five fouls against Sacramento and had a few turnovers as well. With that said, those things are to be expected. We'd be more surprised if he wasn't making those kinds of missteps this early into his first preseason.
Overall, it's hard to find any real, glaring red flags in Yang Hansen's game so far. His defense will be a work in progress, but he still shouldn't be a major liability on that end. I think plenty of Blazers fans were ready to move on from Deandre Ayton, and it’s already starting to feel like that decision might age just fine.
Hansen brings an energy, a skill level, and sense of purpose that fits where this Portland team is headed. If his confidence keeps growing at this rate, the Trail Blazers might have quietly found their long-term answer at center much sooner than anyone expected.