Coming into the 2025-26 regular season, no Portland Trail Blazers player is generating as much hope and excitement as rookie center Yang Hansen. A virtual unknown when he was selected 16th overall in the 2025 NBA
Draft, Hansen dazzled during Summer League with his passing and court vision. He stumbled in his first preseason outing against the Golden State Warriors but rebounded big time versus the Sacramento Kings, putting up 16 points on 5-8 shooting with 4 rebounds and 3 blocks in 17 minutes of play.
In what is sure to be a repeated phenomenon throughout the year, the Blazer’s Edge Mailbag is already alight with questions about Hansen, including this one:
Dear Dave,
What do you think of Yang so far? His two games couldn’t have been more different but I’m really encouraged by his scoring in the last one. He broke through. Do you see him turning up bigger this season than maybe we thought for a rookie? I see so many good things about his game and I believe we made the right choice. I’m looking forward to lots more games like this. Are you excited too for Yang Mania?
Chris
Hansen is a rookie. That means we’re going to see plenty of performances like we did in the first two games of preseason. He’ll be up and down. It depends on the opponent and assignment, his own growth and conditioning, and sometimes random luck. Rookies vacillate. I fully expect him to look like a world-beater some nights while leaving us scratching heads others. That’s all part of the game.
A couple of obvious observations come to mind.
First, his vision on offense is everything advertised. That’s a real skill. If and when it develops into nightly usefulness, he’ll become a weapon. It has to be accompanied by his own scoring ability, otherwise opponents will lay off him and wait for the pass. That part of his game will take longer to develop, probably. Wait for it with patience and you just might get rewarded with a “never sad to see him on the court” player at a comparatively rare position.
Hansen’s rebounding needs work. His defense does too. Those will be the limiting factor on his rotation spot for now. Until they’re up to NBA standards, he’ll be more of an interesting player than a dependable one. But again, he’s in his first year, coming from a completely different league. Give it time. There’s no substitute for reps and experience.
All of that said, I’m over the moon happy about one thing. Hansen is eager as anything and his bounce-back ability seems to be a 10 out of 10.
This shows up first in his moment-by-moment play. He’s into everything. His fouls, though numerous, are acts of commission. He’s trying to get in plays. He’s almost always moving, even if it’s a little late or not to the right spot. The minute he catches the ball, he’s trying to do something with it. There’s almost a puppy-dog naivete to his style. It’s like he believes something meaningful is going to happen and he’s going to be a part of it no matter what. I absolutely love that.
Even better, these qualities showed up clearly in his comeback versus Sacramento. He fizzled in that first outing against the Warriors. He looked out of place, sometimes confused and outmatched. For many players, especially young ones, that would be a confidence-shaker. You see plenty of rookies and tryout players step back in these situations, trying hard not to make more mistakes instead of trying hard to make the next play. Hansen’s big spree came right after a flop. It even came in the second half of the game, after he’d sputtered for a bit.
Hansen’s got teflon in him. He’s not going to quit. That quality is the most important single attribute I can think of for a talented rookie. In essence, it means that the downs won’t last. They may educate, a critical part of the process, but they don’t last. Only the ups end up sticking.
When someone is flailing futilely at a project we say they’re taking two steps forward and three steps back. Hansen seems the type to invert that. Because of his dogged optimism/confidence/bounce-back stubbornness he’s probably going to take three steps ahead and slip back two repeatedly. From the outside, that looks almost as frustrating as futility. But mathematically–and in learning curves–that’s how you end up taking net steps forward. Maybe for a while it’s going to be five yards traversed for every one yard of actual gain. That doesn’t matter. It’s progress. Rook has plenty of time.
For that reason alone I am already encouraged by Yang Hansen. It has less to do with his skill set, position, or talent. All of those have yet to be measured truly. But his approach to the game is ahead of the curve. If that keeps up, I don’t think Blazers fans will have to worry no matter how much he ends up playing in this, or any, year.
Thanks for the question! You can always send yours to blazersub@gmail.com and we’ll try to answer as many as possible!
