Yang Hansen, picked 16th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, was touted as China’s next star. Of course, that was always optimistic. Even at the time, picking Yang that early seemed like a stretch.
In his rookie season, he averaged just 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds. Not exactly the mark of a superstar.
I was one of the first Americans to have Yang on my radar. I was writing about him a full year before he was drafted, and fully bought into the hype. The NBA desperately wants to tap into the Chinese market, and Yang is their best bet.
However, languishing on the bench in Portland won’t grow his appeal. Trading a rookie on his first contract is typically a death blow, but Chinese fans have to accept that his second team is where he’ll break out…if he ever does.
Yang Hansen Must Play for a Bad Team
This summer, the Blazers extended Robert Williams III. In 2024, they picked Donovan Clingan seventh overall. They have a frontcourt in place and are ready to win.
Add in Deni Avdija’s breakout, Damian Lillard’s return, and the addition of Ja Morant, and the Blazers are looking to make it back to the playoffs, this time without the play-in tournament. If Yang stays in town, he’s going to languish on the bench, and Portland already has plenty of frontcourt depth.
Adam Silver wants Yang to succeed.
“It frustrates me that there are no Chinese players in the NBA right now,” Silver said in 2017. “More NBA basketball is being watched in China than anywhere else in the world.”
If Yang becomes a star, or even a starter, the NBA will boom international becuase of it. Most experts projected Yang as a second-round pick, but admitted that his offensive instincts raise his ceiling significantly. In Portland, he won’t have a chance to get anywhere close to his potential.
Would the NBA rather have him ride the bench on a playoff team or light it up for a bad team? Which one would Chinese fans prefer?
Portland should trade Yang to the Kings, Bucks, Nets, or Bulls. None of those teams are any good, but with Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner unlikely to play much on tanking teams, there’s room for him. The Nets and Bulls, meanwhile, have room to take on pretty much anyone.
This isn’t an issue of Yang playing in a small market. It’s an issue of him not playing at all. If you’re a Yang believer still, you should want him to be traded. If you want basketball to grow in Asia, you should want him to be traded.
Plus, sending out a rookie on a cheap contract might help the Blazers get the missing piece to add to their playoff hopes.
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