Event With the 16th pick, Blazers have selected Hansen Yang

Portland doesn't currently have direct flights to China. I wonder how good Yang has to be until we do?

 

Yang Hansen And The Summer League Trail Blazers Get To Work

It sounds like Yang Hansen’s first practice with the Portland Trail Blazers, the 2025 Las Vegas Summer League edition, was similar to the first day for most any employee. It was exciting and interesting, things moved a little fast compared to what he’s accustomed to and he was pretty tired by the end of it.

But the 7-1 center who was selected with the 16th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft less than two weeks ago held his own in the first of four practices the Trail Blazers will hold at their facility in Tualatin before heading off to Las Vegas to start their run at Summer League.

“It looked like his first practice, you know what I mean,” said Trail Blazers assistant coach Ronnie Burrell, who is handling heading coaching duties for the Trail Blazers at Summer League. “But the talent level that he has and his size, he's always going to stand out and be impressive. So he was impressive, and obviously there's things he's going to learn really, really quickly. And he's expected to have his struggles and also have some success. So he looked good today, man, he’s a pleasure to work with.”

While Yang participated in a pre-draft workout with the Trail Blazers and has spent time at the team’s practice facility since he arrived in Portland last week, Saturday’s practice was the first time he was on the court playing, taking instruction and communicating with his new teammates and coaches.

“I need time to adapt to their pace,” said Yang via an interpreter. “Firstly, I’m a new rookie so for sure I need time to be used to everything. And also I try to learn everything from ‘OG’ or experienced players. I think there’s too many new things for me, so I need time to learn.”

Getting their young rookie center acclimated to the pace and style of play he’ll encounter in the NBA is almost certainly one of the Trail Blazers’ goals, Yang might be judging his performance a bit too harshly, especially for a first day.

“I can't imagine being in (Yang’s) shoes,” said Burrell. “This is all new to him, the language, the culture, at his age and he handles it amazing. I'm highly impressed with him so far. I mean, the kid has maturity and he's got character, and he's picking up things fast and he's going to have a really good summer league.”

“For sure I will try to play my ball and try to play team basketball. And then do the dirty job on the court, set screens, go rebound, go play defense,” said Yang. “I might make a lot of mistakes but I’m lucky that I’ve got games to get more experience. So I will follow the flow of the game.”

Yang isn’t alone in Saturday’s practice being his first with the Trail Blazers. Other than Rayan Rupert and Sidy Cissoko, no player on Portland’s Summer League roster has suited up for the Trail Blazers, though James Bouknight, Dmytro Skapintsev and Cameron Tyson did play last season for the Remix. So with so many players getting their first real run with the team, results in Las Vegas will matter much less than improvement.

“I'm just happy to be here. I'm thankful for this opportunity,” said Burrell, who joined the Trail Blazers last season. “I hope that I'll judge my success off what the players feel at the end of summer league, if they got something out of it or not, because it's about them, it’s not about me. I've been around this stuff in different roles and I'm really excited to get to work with this group, man. I just hope that they can get a whole lot out of this summer.”

https://www.nba.com/blazers/news/yang-hansen-and-the-summer-league-trail-blazers-get-to-work