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Hansen Yang Rumors
(@BenGolliver) Blazers rookie center Yang Hansen taps his wrist to show he’s ready for “Dame Time” with Damian Lillard
This is one of my favorite things—to see a player who maybe isn’t sure if they’re going to be taken or not in the first round, and to go anyway, to attend at Barclays Center, to be out in the stands. Can you take us through what was going through your head when you finally heard your name called? Yang Hansen: I mean, for sure, it’s a big shock for me. I was surprised when Adam called my name. That surprised me. I was just sitting there finishing my fried chicken. I didn’t even put my suit on. Suddenly they told me, "Hansen, Hansen—take your suit off." I said, "Huh?" And they just took it out, and suddenly when the camera caught me, I was still trying to make the suit look good. Before I touched my suit, I still used my T-shirt to clean my hands—I didn’t want the oil to mess up my suit.
Yang Hansen: 'I will treasure every minute I have'
Final question before we let you two go here. Hansen, when you look ahead at your NBA career, what’s your goal? What do you want to achieve in this league? Yang Hansen: I mean, to be honest, I can’t say anything big. If CB or coach uses me in the game, I will treasure every minute I have. I just try to do my job well and focus on my own game. In the long term, I just want to become a versatile player—try to help my team as much as I can. Like, grab more wins.
The 2025 Portland Trail Blazers summer league team will be led by some familiar faces, as well as two rookies, when play begins July 11. Leading the Blazers into the 2025 NBA Summer League session in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be rookie center Yang Hansen, whom the Blazers acquired the draft rights to during the June 25 NBA draft. Center Donovan Clingan, last year’s No. 7 pick, is not on the roster.
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The Spot Up Shot: OFFICIAL: The Blazers have signed Caleb Love to a two-way contract. Portland has signed Yang Hansen to his rookie scale contract.
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Sean Highkin: Small note related to Chinese naming conventions: I've been told Yang Hansen's jersey will say "Yang" on the back. Also, it's pronounced more like "Yong."
Kerry Eggers: ' @trailblazers GM Joe Cronin, after watching the recent NBA playoffs: “I have noticed the way the really successful teams think the game. Their basketball IQ, their skill sets, their ability to make each other better are a critical component to winning games. That is where Yang (Hansen) will help us. His basketball IQ is very high. He makes others better. That is what we are trying to do, to find guys who supplement and build up each other.”
Kerry Eggers: ' @trailblazers GM Joe Cronin on 7-2, 260-pound draft pick Yang Hansen: “Yang is mature physically already. He is strong, firm and sturdy and can withstand the strength of the NBA guys. It is extremely difficult to find a young player of that stature with this skill set. Big men who can do all the things he can do typically succeed in our league. It might take him a little time, but as he figures out the speed and pace of our game, I wouldn’t put a ceiling on him. He is that talented."
Kerry Eggers: Joe Cronin, when I asked Cronin why @trailblazers didn’t move down even more than No. 16 in the draft to take Yang Hansen, where he might reap even more in return. Was he concerned another team would take Hansen soon after No. 16? “The goal was to get as far back as possible. We didn’t want to overdraft if we didn’t have to, (but) we weren’t … comfortable beyond 16. It was too important for us to get him. We decided to do what some would call ‘a reach.’ We decided to take that swing and overdraft a player we really value.” #RipCity
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