While the Trail Blazers continue their fight to stay in Portland, the league continues moving closer to expanding to 32 teams.
In March, the NBA's board of governors approved a vote for the league to explore expanding to Las Vegas and Seattle. At the time, ESPN's Shams Charania reported a target date of 2028-29 for those two franchises to begin playing.
But first, these Vegas and Seattle teams actually need, you know, players. That could force an NBA expansion draft, similar to the one Charlotte Bobcats had in 2004. In that case, teams were able to protect up to eight of their own players from the draft.
Bleacher Report's Dan Favale and Grant Hughes recently went through which eight players teams should protect this time around, assuming the NBA has similar expansion draft protocols with Vegas and Seattle as they did with Charlotte.
With expansion seeming inevitable at this point, existing teams around the league need to be factoring this into their roster decision-making. It becomes more complicated for a team like the Portland Trail Blazers, a roster that is both equally deep and messy.
Blazers leave Yang Hansen unprotected in expansion draft projection
There are not only positional logjams to sort out, but also the two timelines Portland is currently straddling. They got to the playoffs for the first time in this rebuild, looking to build off that with Damian Lillard and Ja Morant now taking over the keys to the backcourt.
One downside of that is the Blazers still have developmental projects and young players getting lost in the mix. While Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe ultimately make the Blazers' list of the protected eight, multi-year project Yang Hansen is among the odd men out.
Here are the eight Favale and Hughes ultimately decided to keep for Portland:
- Protected: Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan, Jrue Holiday, Damian Lillard, Toumani Camara, Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Robert Williams III
- Unprotected: Ja Morant, Yang Hansen, Micah Potter, Vit Krejci, Sidy Cissoko, Branden Carlson
The backcourt situation could easily change depending on how well Morant plays and fits in Portland. With his lack of defense, unreliable floor spacing, and a downhill game that overlaps with Deni Avdija, there's a chance Morant hurts this young core more than he helps.
It's a low-risk flier for Portland to see if they can add more talent for cheap. But should things turn south, this expansion draft could offer an easy out, especially since Seattle or Vegas would presumably be excited to bet on that type of talent to build around.
NBA expansion means the clock is ticking for Yang Hansen in Portland
Hansen is another player Portland moves on from in this scenario with upside worth taking a flier on for Seattle or Vegas. As Hughes notes, the thought of the Blazers willingly moving on from Hansen just one year ago after all the hype surrounding the pick and electric Summer League would've seemed unimaginable.
"A year ago at this time, all the Yang Hansen hype would have made exposing him unthinkable. But he looks nowhere near ready to contribute and may not be able to his the main flaws—poor foot speed and a lack of defensive oomph—through hard work. Plus, it's too tough to make a case that the Blazers would choose to make anyone on their protected list available before him," Hughes said.
The Blazers have done a good job of adding insurance in case the Hansen pick doesn't pan out. Their three-year, $44 million deal with Robert Williams III was arguably their best move of the offseason, given the injury protections. They also quietly added frontcourt depth with offseason signings such as Branden Carlson, Micah Potter, and most recently Jeremy Sochan.
These moves allow Portland to juggle these two timelines, building on their playoff appearance while giving Hansen the time he clearly still needs to develop. While that plan normally would have worked, the looming potential NBA expansion puts Hansen on a ticking clock to prove he belongs in this young core.
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