Team Austin frontcourt Yang Hansen of the Portland Trail Blazers. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Blazers May Soon Regret Yang Hansen Pick

Originally posted on Portland Trail Blazers on SI
By Jeremy Brener | Last updated Feb 19, 2026 11:00 AM ET

Portland Trail Blazers rookie Yang Hansen is struggling throughout his first season in the league.

Yang has not been able to crack the Blazers rotation, and it doesn't look good when you consider the fact that the Blazers traded up to acquire him with the number 16 overall pick. Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley conducted a 2025 NBA redraft and placed Yang at No. 30 with the final pick in the first round.

"To be perfectly clear, this is not a performance-based pick. ... He may have looked largely unplayable to this point, but he's still a 7'1", 20-year-old with true offensive hub potential if everything breaks right," Buckley wrote.

Blazers Swung High on Yang's Upside

Yang was viewed in the pre-draft process as someone who was incredibly raw but had a lot of potential. Many saw some small tidbits of Nikola Jokic in his game if everything went in the right direction; however, the Blazers simply haven't given him a lot of opportunities to play this season.

Fortunately for the Blazers, they were able to get a savvy player in Caleb Love in the undrafted free agent scramble. Love went number 16 in Yang's spot in the redraft.

"In reality, this probably isn't a pick Portland does differently. The aggressive selection of Hansen last summer was clearly made with the long-term future in mind, and you'd think the Blazers aren't unwilling to back off of that bet," Buckley wrote.

"And yet, if you had to label one of their rookies as essential this season, how could you not go with Love? The undrafted guard is already pushing the limits of his two-way pact with 44 appearances so far, during which he's netted 11.3 points, 2.7 assists and 2.0 three-pointers in just 22.4 minutes a night."

There's still a long way to go to determine whether or not Yang is a bust. He may not work out with the Blazers if this trajectory continues, but Portland would be silly to not give Yang some playing time down the line. He is going to need to have a strong summer developing his game in the offseason, with the chance of seeing more minutes in the NBA next season.

This time next year, if things aren't looking so hot, then it may be time to look towards the future in a different direction. However, it is still way too early to pull the plug on the Yang experiment, and the Blazers should not be worried about the timing of everything.

This article first appeared on Portland Trail Blazers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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