Trail Blazers’ Yang Hansen Drawing Attention From National NBA Media

Yang Hansen isn’t just the toast of Portland. National media are tuning in, and they like what they see from the Portland Trail Blazers rookie. With Cooper Flagg being shut down by the Dallas Mavericks for the rest of NBA Summer League, Yang just might be one of the biggest stories remaining in Las Vegas’ annual basketball showcase. Let’s round up what some of the folks around the NBA are saying.

The Ringer’s Bill Simons tweeted that he wants to invest in Yang, but his Ringer colleague Ryen Russillo got there first:

Trying to buy one of Russillo’s beachfront condos on Yang Island, he’s hoarding like 15 of them.

Kurt Helin of NBC Sports liked what he saw after Yang’s Summer League opener on Friday, and he noticed the crowd did, too:

That went better than expected.

It’s just one Summer League game, and Yang Hansen still has a long way to go to prove he can hang in an NBA rotation — let alone live up to the starry-eyed expectations of some Trail Blazers fans — but his Summer League debut went as well as could be hoped.

What’s undeniable is that Yang is fun to watch — and the late-night Las Vegas crowd loved him.

The Hoop Collective Podcast discussed Yang live from Las Vegas, with Brian Windhorst, Tim Bontemps, Tim MacMahon and guest Kevin Pelton:

Windhorst: He’s like the one of the first generation of big men who grew up idolizing Nikola Jokic. … But if you watch him play, you can tell he has studied how Jokic plays. He wants to play out of the high post. Made some crazy passes uh two nights ago. Was that last night?

Pelton: Last night. I don’t want to say Blazers fans are getting over their skis here, but I did hear today that instead of him being the Chinese Jokic, Jokic is going to be the Serbian Yang.

Tim MacMahon: He was considered the biggest reach of the first round. When he was picked, people thought, hold on. That guy’s supposed to be like a mid-second rounder. Where did you have him on your nerd board?

Pelton: Well, I didn’t have him at all. That was my cop out.

Windhorst: What happened? Get off. Get out of here.

MacMahon: One Summer League game and he’s got him as as the Chinese Joker.

Pelton: I said he’s someone to watch. Zhou Qi, who you may remember from Houston, rated really well in my model. So, I have some qualms about the Chinese Basketball Association translation.

Joe Tansey of Bleacher Report saw Portland’s vision in Yang during the Summer League opener:

The Blazers saw something special in Hansen Yang that prompted them to trade for him on draft night.

Yang flashed some of the reasons why he can be a useful part of Portland’s revamped frontcourt in Friday’s win over Golden State.

Rishav Bhat of Clutchpoints was wowed by Yang’s poster dunk in his second outing against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday:

However, the highlight of the night came in the form of a commanding dunk which saw Hansen receive the ball at the edge of the three-point zone. He proceeded to tower over Lawson Lovering, pulling off a spectacularly casual dunk which seems to be a major weapon in his arsenal.

Yang and the Blazers Summer League squad will be back in action Tuesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans at 7 p.m. Pacific.