The Portland Trail Blazers are one of 25 teams that will have their training camps open and media day held on September 29. It's one of the most anticipated Blazers training camps in quite some time. There are several reasons for this excitement, but fans are particularly eager to get an extended look at Portland's shocking first-round selection, Yang Hansen.
Blazers struck gold with Yang Hansen
Hansen was widely projected to be a second-round selection, but the Blazers took him No. 16 overall, valuing him significantly higher than consensus after scouting him heavily for two years.
It was challenging to evaluate him as a prospect because he got away with things in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) that may not work in the NBA. Those concerns haven't fully been put to rest, as the talent gap between summer league and a meaningful NBA regular-season game is vast. Still, he's already shown enough with his rare combination of size, footwork, and playmaking to make Blazers fans excited about this shocking draft decision.
It was a limited sample size of just four games, but Hansen already justified Portland's unconventional selection with his Summer League play. During that stretch, he averaged 10.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.2 blocks on 46/33/88 shooting splits.
The lack of rebounds isn't as concerning as it appears. Hansen was consistently boxing out and allowing teammates to get to the ball. Still, it wasn't all perfect.
Although Hansen often made the right reads, he still had as many turnovers as assists. That's going to need to be cleaned up in order for him to emerge as a true offensive hub for the Blazers. Defensively, he was a solid rim protector, but was a traffic cone when guarding out on the perimeter. That said, Hansen's strengths far outweighed his weaknesses, and he played as well as Blazers fans could've hoped.
Because of how bold Portland's pick was, many assumed that Hansen would be a project-type prospect that would take years to develop before making an impact. That no longer appears to be the case, with Hansen projected to see minutes as the backup behind Donovan Clingan to start the season.
Now the question has shifted from whether Portland made a foolish decision to how good Yang Hansen really is. He has legitimate star upside if his strengths can translate to the pace and physicality of the NBA.
We'll find out more throughout training camp and the regular season, but so far, it's looking like the Blazers -- a team that was criticized for this selection -- are having the last laugh. They weren't afraid to trust their draft evaluation regardless of how that would be perceived around the league, and it's about to pay off in a significant way.