The Portland Trail Blazers provided the first shocker in the 2025 NBA Draft, nabbing China center Yang Hansen with the No. 16 pick. The Memphis Grizzlies made the pick for Portland as part of a trade that commissioner Adam Silver announced would be finalized later.
Yang, who turns 20 on Thursday, was projected to be a mid-to-late second-round pick, but the Blazers are getting him despite already having a full stable of centers. Yang, who wasn’t invited to the Green Room by the NBA, was seated in the stands when his name was called. That’s why his hat didn’t fit properly — he didn’t get measured for his cap like other top prospects did on Tuesday.
Yang is the first Chinese-born player to be drafted in the first round since Yi Jianlian in 2007, and the third-highest draft pick ever from China. Yao Ming was selected No. 1 in 2002.
He joins a Blazers team that has at center former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton, last year’s No. 7 pick Donovan Clingan, as well as veteran Robert Williams III.
Yang played for the Qingdao Eagles in the Chinese Basketball Association for the past two seasons. Last season, he averaged 16.6 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists while also recording 2.6 blocks per game. He shot 33.3 percent from 3-point range.
He was considered by draft analysts as a rising prospect, but no one projected him to be a first-round pick. Portland acquired the 16th pick from Memphis earlier in the draft when it traded the 11th pick to the Grizzlies. The Blazers also received a 2028 first-round pick and two second-round picks as part of the deal.
Yang said, via his interpreter, that he worked out with the Blazers a month ago and got along well with Portland management, but “at the end of the day, this was beyond (my) wildest imagination.”
He also said that he was expecting to be selected at the end of the first round. Getting picked at No. 16 was “a big surprise.”
Is Yang ready for the NBA?
Yang has several intriguing skills. Any time a player is this big with elite passing vision and touch around the rim, there’s going to be a lot of intrigue. I worry that it’s going to be hard for Yang to actualize those things in the NBA because of his high-hipped frame, lack of explosiveness and lack of lateral ability. Even though skill absolutely matters with players like this and is what makes them special, the guys who tend to make it in this mold are generally the biggest bullies on the court: Think Nikola Jokić, Domantas Sabonis, Nikola Vucevic and even Karl-Anthony Towns to some extent. They all can put their shoulder into NBA big men and move them backward to establish position wherever they need to on the court. Yang doesn’t have that ability, unfortunately.
His defensive translation to the NBA is a major question, too. I love big, skilled centers who can give you a chance to play five-out basketball. I just don’t buy Yang enough as a shooter and don’t buy the functionality of his game enough against the best athletes in the world. — Sam Vecenie
A fit for the Blazers?
I’m sorry … WHAT???!?!?!?! Nobody had Yang as a first-rounder. Literally nobody. He’s big and fairly skilled and I think he’s potentially a solid backup because of his offense, but this is a serious reach by the Blazers on a player most expected to last well into the second round. (Memphis made this pick, technically, but as noted above, the Grizzlies swapped spots 11 and 16 with Portland). The Blazers already had a surfeit of centers with Ayton, Williams and 2024 lottery pick Clingan, so it’s not clear what Yang’s pathway is to minutes in Portland. I do not get this at all. — John Hollinger
Fred Katz contributed to this story.
(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
