Grade the Blazers 2025 draft on Jul15 - Yang Hansen

Grade the Blazer Draft!

 

Will be interesting how voting goes now after an impressive summer league. Voting at the draft was;
A 5
B 13
C 18
D 14
F 7

http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/grade-the-blazers-2025-draft-day1.385658/

 

SL doesn't mean anything

need to suspend this poll till Hansen is in his 2nd or 3rd season; and the players Portland could have had are in their 2nd or 3rd seasons

 

I think my original vote was an F.

Jaku has looked like shit. I still think they should have done the NOP pick. We could have two shots at a top 3 pick next summer in a loaded draft. I like Yang but I would still take the shot at a superstar.

 

For the record I was on board front the start after watching tape you could see his BBIQ and unlike the critics I actually thought he looked more athletic. Than what the experts claimed. 7 footers almost always look awkward especially when trying to do quick moves. His spin moves in the lane from top of key and in the lane are smooth. What I haven’t seen yet is the hooks he showed on tape.

my hope is we have a Jokic and Nurk problem where at some point one of them is so good that we decide to trade the other one, unless somehow financially it makes sense to keep both.

 

I gave it a D but now he looks better than I feared. But there is still a long ways to go in order for him to be a starter in the league. Long long ways but he is young and has a lot of talent.

I give it a B now.

 

Yeah but the covered their asses on the big reach by securing another future first. I gave it a B knowing that Yang could end up being a big time starter or an absolute bust.

 

trading pick for a future 1st and 2 future 2nds is a B, by itself. Hansen's play has immediately moved that to an A. If he improves, it'll move up to S-tier.

 

So now that Yang summer league is done any additional votes?

 

I wish we knew if the NOP pick was ever on our radar. If it was not, I give it an A. The reports make it sound like Atlanta was the only team that got the unprotected pick offer. If we did have a chance at the unprotected NOP pick, I’m stuck at a C- or a D. I really want that unprotected pick.

 

I voted a B... I'll leave it there. I think Yang has a high upside but a possibly low floor still. We got the extra unprotected FRP when we moved back to cover for the risk so it was a really good move but I'm not sure it was great, time will tell.

 

After returning to this board, I read through the entire draft thread. You were the first believer. Well done.

 

My revised vote is a B. I still don’t see him matching up well yet with good NBA players. But that is ok for now.

 

I voted an A then and I’m voting an A now. Yang was a surprise pick but his tape was amazing and even I could see that he’s got good instincts and an eye for on court tactics.

 

5 posters who originally gave the Blazers an A at draft night;

• Fez Hammersticks
• SlyPokerDog
• BlazerBeav
• blazerfan11
• Everything Beagle

Posters who now give Blazers an A (original grade)

• 1 Eye Jack (B)
• KingSpeed
• SlyPokerDog (A)
• Wizard Mentor
• Phatguysrule
• Mote (B+)
• hihiyuki (D)
• Propagandist
• SharpesTriumph (D)
• blazerfan11 (A)
• RippedCity
• BassPlaya
• Everything Beagle (A)

Posters who originally gave the Blazers an F;

• SheedSoNasty
• Natebishop3
• Mediocre Man
• hypnosmurf
• Idog1976
• Strenuus
• Bingo Bango

Posters who originally gave the Blazers a D;

• tlongII
• UKRAINEFAN
• GriLtCheeZ
• wizenheimer
• Freshtown
• PtldPlatypus
• FlyinSouth
• hihiyuki
• BonesJones
• AquaXI
• Five Second Violation
• LayneStaley
• SharpesTriumph
• GoZers

 

I give the Blazers an A+ for Yang. Actually an A+ for Clingan and Yang. Having those two tag team is an exciting prospect

 

I didn’t vote in the first poll because knee jerk decision making rarely goes well for me. Initially I was pretty shocked, thinking it was a huge mistake/over reach. But then I saw Minny up next with mouths a gap, having just lost their player, and reporting the Nets were in on Yang at 19. I honestly was not impressed with any player at 11, so trading down and getting a future unprotected FRP and the player management wanted was a win. That alone is a solid B. Yang’s play was a solid B level. He was playing with players that had a lot of deficiencies. He has his own too. Rebounding, or lack of. But that might be a SL aboration. Getting into camp with real NBA players could magnify Yang’s skills, but expose weaknesses. Which is why this whole exercise, for me, is too soon. Yang’s biggest battle right now is to continue getting in shape and adjusting to the speed of NBA play. Making quicker decisions offensively. I am confident he will not be a bust. He works hard and is very smart. Ten minutes a game will probably be a good start for him.

 

I didn't vote in the poll, but have to give the Blazers an A+ (after being initially confused and disgusted). I just turned 71 years old. I have been a hardcore Blazer fan since they arrived when I was 16 years old. I have been through all the ups and downs without fading.....until the past few years. The direction the league has taken has had me disheartened, especially for small market teams like Portland. It has felt like it would take a literal act of God for us to ever be relevant again. Jeezus, even the lottery balls have hated us. And it didn't help that Cronin's moves in general led to a lot of head scratching. As a result, the Blazers started to become nothing but minor background noise in my life. Basically the New Jersey Generals.

But.............right now things are all of a sudden feeling a little bit "different". Getting Yang was not an "act of God". It was the result of an organization paying attention and doing its due diligence. It was an organization realizing that ping pong balls, and a league administration only focused on the bottom line was not gonna save us. It's like, "Holy shit, Batman! We actually have a plan!" So everyone else can naysay, second guess, move on to the next best thing or whatever. It feels like we're finally taking concrete steps back to actual relevance through our own initiative and despite the roadblocks that will always be in our small market way. And bringing Dame back puts some shine on it, and in some ways (at least to me) sends the rest of the league a big middle finger. Cronin is looking pretty effing good right now and my fandom has gotten a huge booster shot in the arm. I look forward to our future for a change.....

 

Oh the grades are certainly too soon. But that's kind of the point of this message board IMO - trying to project and estimate what will happen. Then explain the rationale of that conclusion.

We can give the most accurate draft grade of a player once they have ended their Blazer career. I'd just rather read and consider forward thinking outlooks than some super precise hindsight history.