Yang Hansen's ceiling is an offensive hub for the Portland Trail Blazers. His floor is a fringe end-of-bench player. We would even say out of this league, but it's hard to see that with how much he benefits a franchise financially given the national attention.
The point is, Hansen's career trajectory has so much variance that we don't quite know yet what Portland has on its hands. I don't think they know, either. But they were certainly intrigued enough to put their jobs on the line by taking a universally projected second-round pick in the middle of the first round.
They'll do everything they can to support Hansen in reaching his ceiling, but ultimately it could come down to how confident he is in himself. Corny, but true.
Blazers need Yang Hansen's confidence to carry over into the regular season
The Blazers almost need Hansen to tap into his inner Chris "Birdman" Andersen as someone who entered the league with a few tattoos only to gradually transform into a walking canvas with a mohawk. Portland has a ton of tattoo shops too.
Okay, it's not about the tattoos or even the appearance, but more so about the fearlessness and confidence with which he approaches his game in the NBA. Hansen is an entirely different player in the Summer League and G League than he was as a rookie in the NBA.
Part of that is because his weaknesses don't translate well to the NBA's speed and physicality, which was always the concern as a projected second-round prospect. While that will never be a strength of Hansen's game, hopefully he can address it over time.
He already looks leaner and relatively quicker this summer. But ultimately, the one thing differentiating Hansen's game in the Summer League and G League compared to the NBA is how he views himself.
When he knows he's one of the best players on the court, he plays like it. By that we mean he's more physical, aggressive, seeking the ball, taking his defender off the dribble, and looking to score in general. That opens up his entire offense, allowing him to utilize his elite court vision.
We didn't see much of that as a rookie. It's hard to use your finesse without the ball, and the lack of physicality meant the cons of having him on the court far outweighed the pros.
That could even be more of the same in his second season, but the Blazers are playing the long game with this multi-year project who is just 21 years old. If he's going to pan out and reward their high-risk, high-reward draft gamble, it's ultimately going to come down to his confidence -- something he has to figure out internally for himself.
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