Yang Hansen is a triumph of imagination

(This article was published on October 27. The author is Jack Tien-Dana, a reporter from RealGM Analysis. The content of the article does not represent the views of the translator.)

Since 2015, China has built more than 15,000 miles of high-speed rail and plans to add nearly 20,000 miles by 2035. This year, researchers from Zhejiang University invented a "bone glue" that can heal broken bones in minutes. This is China's era, and now they have their own Nikola Jokic.

Yang Hansen was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 16th overall pick in this year's draft, becoming the first Chinese player selected in the first round since Yi Jianlian in 2007. While Yang Hansen is obviously not the next Jokic, he represents a new generation of post players who have grown up under Jokic's influence. Like Shin Kyung and Derek Quinn, Young is a skilled low-post creator and passer whose ball-handling skills are more valuable than his off-ball threat.

Yang Hansen has already caused a sensation based on his performance in summer league and preseason games alone. In China, the ratings of his summer league games even exceeded those of the NBA Finals; every highlight moment of his has quickly become popular on TikTok. He is the face of the Trail Blazers, but will he be the future of the Trail Blazers?

In an NBA offense, guards and ball handlers primarily drive the flow of the game, but the big men determine the ceiling of possibilities; they are like the vowels in your Scrabble puzzle, the rhyme and rhythm of your poetry.

Therefore, the flaws of center players are often closely related to the team's overall performance. An undersized point guard or wing player who can't dribble can mask their problems through an offensive system, but the center himself is the core of the system. If your center panics like he's seeing a bird in the house every time he has the ball in the open field, then your defenders are forced to attack from non-threatening positions. If the center is a bad interior defender, your team's defense won't be any better. The outcome of a game or a series depends largely on the biggest players, not just the best players.

Therefore, Yang Hansen's selling point as a player is that his strengths may make him a star, but his weaknesses may also prevent him from becoming a starter. Before the draft, Yang Hansen was generally considered a project worthy of long-term development, but he has already performed well in 10 summer league and preseason games. Translated into averages of 15.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per 36 minutes per game, which is roughly the same as his performance in the CBA last year.

Yang Hansen is a player full of imagination. Not only can he fake and dribble behind his back, but he can also turn around and pick up the basket in the crowd, which are actions that are unimaginable for most seven-footers. Although he is only 20 years old, he is already good at creating suspense for defenders, revealing his true intentions at the last moment of the attack, using clever footsteps and interleaving movements to catch defenders off guard.

In addition, Yang Hansen is also a talented and infectious passer. When he receives the ball, his teammates immediately come alive, surrounding him for impromptu passing and dribbling handovers. His presence motivates his teammates, who are more willing to move inside because they know their efforts will be rewarded; they are also willing to pass the ball to him because Yang Hansen is always willing to pass the ball back to them.

With the team without a ball-dominant point guard (or head coach), Yang Hansen can theoretically allow the Blazers to find a balance between their best player and best lineup. With Young taking on more passing responsibilities, players who are less willing to pass the ball like Seldon Sharpe, Kamara and Avdija can focus more on scoring. Once Scooter Henderson returns from a torn hamstring, it's easy to imagine the Blazers deploying a dynamic offense centered around the high-post playmaker, similar to the "Light The Beam" Kings.

However, although Yang Hansen gives the Blazers a bright future, he may be sent to the G League in the short term. In the Trail Blazers' season opener, Yang Hansen played only five minutes, grabbed one rebound and missed his only shot. Although he performed well in the relaxed and casual preseason games, he has not yet matched the speed and intensity of real NBA games.

Although he is full of talent, Yang Hansen is still lacking in physical conditions, which makes it difficult for him to perform in actual games. At this point in his career, Young is significantly behind Klingen and (eventually) Robert Williams, both traditional, rim-protecting centers. All of Yang Hansen's lofty conceptual value is overshadowed by his physical reality. He runs like he's holding an iced coffee in his hand and trying to catch the elevator before the doors close; his movements are stiff, his shoulders are narrow, and his hips are set high. Klingen and Williams may not disrupt their positional responsibilities, but they are long and capable of blocking shots and grabbing rebounds. They did things that only big men can do.

As teams gradually tend to use small-ball lineups, Yang Hansen can be regarded as a microcosm of the current development of big men. The best guards are basically upgraded versions of average guards, and the centers that dominate the league play a very different game than most of the centers that linger on the fringes of the league; there are dozens of seven-footers who can jump high and block shots, but there's only one Jokic. In this sense, Hansen Yang may truly become China's Jokic, but more likely he is closer to China's Drew Timme, whose skill set is limited by physical conditions. Players like him often become stars — just mostly in non-NBA leagues.

Therefore, Yang Hansen's opportunity to pursue greatness conflicts with his probability of becoming a good player. If he can't force turnovers on the defensive end, it won't help even if he can grab rebounds and initiate fast breaks; if he can't score in confrontations, his silky low post moves won't bring him any results. The big man's fate depends on his ability to do the little things. Only by first achieving the expected basic skills can you achieve extraordinary results.

Original text: Jack Tien-Dana

Compiler: JayChan